High Blood Pressure Symptoms
The great anomaly about high blood pressure (BP) is that in the beginning it does not produce any symptoms, and sadly many people walk around with a ticking time bomb that could go off at anytime.
Although there are no symptoms at the beginning, you may experience a range of symptoms in the later stages when your blood pressure has reaches an uncontrollable high level.
The most common symptoms are:
Headaches – especially as pain at the back of the head
Nausea
Shortness of breath
Nosebleeds
Blurred or double vision
Palpitations – irregular heart beat
Drowsiness
Dizziness
If you experience any of the above you should contact your doctor immediately.
High Blood Pressure Treatments
What type of treatment you will receive will depend on your BP levels and risk factors associated with the likelihood of you developing a cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or stroke.
There are seven main risk factors for developing heart disease which include:
age obesity lack of exercise high blood pressure high cholesterol smoking (or a previous history of smoking) having a family history of cardiovascular disease
Blood pressure readings that are slightly higher than the normal range of (120/80mmHg), or if your GP considers that your risk of heart disease is low could be treated by simply making lifestyle changes such as changing to a healthy diet and incorporating exercise into your daily routine.
However, moderately high readings of (140/90mmHg or higher), or the chance that your GP considers that your risk of developing heart disease in the next 10 years is more than one in five, will require you to take prescribed medication and make lifestyle changes immediately.
If your reading is extremely high (180/110 mmHg or above) you will have to see a doctor who specialises in treating hypertension as by this stage your blood pressure is at a dangerous level.
Medication
There are a number of different types of medication in use. Sometimes you have to take a combination of treatments, but regardless of what type of medication you are prescribed, it is likely that you will to take them for the rest of your life.
The more common types of medication include:
ACE Inhibitors – Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are used to block the actions of certain hormones that help to regulate blood pressure. By preventing these hormones from working, the ACE Inhibitors help to reduce the water content re-absorbed by the kidneys, as well as widen your arteries.
Calcium channel blockers – work by relaxing the muscles surrounding the walls of your arteries. They cause the arteries to widen and reduce your BP.
It should be noted that people with a history of heart disease, liver disease or circulation problems should not be prescribed calcium channel blockers.
Alpha-blockers – stop the muscles that line your blood vessels from tightening the muscles in the walls of your blood vessels. The alpha blockers relax and open the blood vessels allowing the blood to flow easily.
Beta-blockers – works by slowing down the heart rate, thus reducing the pressure of how blood is pumped from the heart around the body. Beta blockers used to be popular but fell out of favor of newer more effective treatments.
For further reading on controlling high blood pressure see: Beware – High Blood Pressure Is A Silent Killer” and Get A Healthy Heart With The High Blood Pressure Diet
