Hypertension

What causes hypertension?

Most adults develop primary hypertension slowly over the years of an unhealthy lifestyle. The factors that contribute to primary hypertension include:

• Being overweight or obese
• Leading a sedentary lifestyle
• Consuming excessive salt
• Consuming too few fruits and vegetables
• Being under chronic stress
• Smoking cigarettes
• Drinking too much alcohol

Though not as common, you can also develop secondary hypertension. This type of high blood pressure occurs due to an underlying health condition such as obstructive sleep apnea, kidney or thyroid disease, and adrenal tumors. Some medications can also cause secondary hypertension.

What health complications develop due to hypertension?

Blood pressure refers to the force of blood as it pushes against the walls of your arteries. When that force is too strong, which occurs when you have hypertension, the pressure damages the artery wall. The damage creates a spot where cholesterol can easily stick to the wall.

Over the years, cholesterol and other fats accumulate and create plaque that narrows the artery. Without treatment, this condition, called atherosclerosis, increasingly restricts blood flow.

As a result, untreated hypertension leads to complications such as:

• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Aneurysm
• Peripheral artery disease
• Coronary artery disease
• Chronic kidney disease
• Congestive heart failure

Hypertension and atherosclerosis can also lead to vascular dementia.

What symptoms develop due to hypertension?

Hypertension seldom causes symptoms. You won’t have any signs of hypertension until your atherosclerosis is severe enough to significantly block blood flow and cause complications.

The lack of symptoms is why you need to protect your health by getting routine blood pressure checks and preventive cardiology at Lone Star Heart and Vascular Center.

How is hypertension treated?

In the early stages of hypertension, making changes in your diet, getting more exercise, losing weight, and implementing other lifestyle changes may be all you need to lower your blood pressure to a normal range.

If your hypertension doesn’t improve with lifestyle changes, or if it’s too high to wait for lifestyle recommendations to help, your provider prescribes medication to lower your blood pressure.

You may need diuretics to eliminate excess water or medications that help relax your blood vessels, reduce the stress on your heart, or block biochemicals that raise blood pressure.

If you need to schedule a blood pressure check or you would like help managing hypertension, call Lone Star Heart and Vascular Center, or schedule an appointment online today.