Hypertension

Hypertension, or High Blood Pressure,  is a condition that, unfortunately, is common in this day and age.  Hypertension is the force of the blood onto the blood vessels witin someone's body being too high as the heart pumps (MNT, 2020).  Blood Pressure varies throughout the day, which is normal.  A problem arises when Blood Pressure is high for extended periods of time.  There are about 103 million people in the United States with Hypertension (AHA, 2018).  Many people have no symptoms, but symptoms include:

• Severe headache
• Fatigue
• Confusion
• Vision problems
• Chest pain
• Difficulty breathing
• Irregular beartbeat
• Blood in urine
• Pounding in your chest, neck, or ears (Steinbaum, 2018).

Two types of Hypertension are Primary (essential) Hypertension and Secondary Hypertension.  Whereas there is no identifiable cause with Primary Hypertension, 
Secondary Hypertension occurs due to secondary to such things as:

• Obstructive Sleep Apnea
• Cushing's Disease
• Pregnancy
• Kidney conditions
• Adrenal Gland Tumors
• Thyroid problems
• Hyperparathyroidism
• Congenital Blood Vessel Defects
• Medications (Mayo, 2022)(MNT, 2020).

There are many risk factors for Hypertension, some you can change, some you cannot.  Risk factors you cannot change are:

• age 
• race
• family history (Mayo, 2022).  

Risk factors you can change are:

• being overweight 
• being sedentary
• smoking 
• excess salt 
• not enough vitamin D
• not enough Potassium
• excess alcohol
• stress (Mayo, 2022) .  

Having uncontrolled Hypertension leads to:

• heart attacks
• heart disease
• strokes
• aneurysms
• heart failure
• kidney complications
• vision loss
• metabolic syndrome
• memory loss (MNT, 2020).

Blood Pressure is reported by two numbers.  Systolic pressure is the pressure when the heart is pumping blood through blood vessels.  Diastolic pressure is the pressure when the heart is at rest between heartbeats.  

Ranges for Blood Pressure:

• Normal Blood Pressure is 120/80 and below.  
• Elevated Blood Pressure ranges from 120-129/80 and below.  
• Stage 1 Hypertension ranges from 130-139/80-89.  
• Stage 2 Hypertension occurs at 140 or higher/90 or higher.
• Hypertensive Crisis occurs at 180 or higher and/or 120 or higher (Harvard Medical School, 2020).

Treatment for Hypertension include:

•  lifestyle changes
• using less salt
• exercise
• about 30 minutes a day, 5 days per week
• maintain healthy weight/losing weight. 
• eating more fruits and vegetables
• not smoking/smoking cessation
• Medications
• Diuretics: typically prescribed first.  
• If  that alone does not bring a person's Blood Pressure to where it needs to be, another prescription is added like:
• Beta Blocker
• ACE Inhibitor
• Calcium Channel Blocker
• Angiotension II receptor Blocker
• Central Agonist
• Peripheral Adrenergic Inhibitor
• Vasodilators (MNT, 2020)(Mayo, 2022)(CDC, 2021).

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UPDATED 2/12/2023


AHA. (2018) More than 100 million Americans have high blood pressure, AHA says.  American Heart Association.  Retrieved from https://www.heart.org/en/news/2018/05/01/more-than-100-million-americans-have-high-blood-pressure-aha-says

CDC.  (2021) High Blood Pressure Symptoms and Causes.  Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/about.htm#:~:text=High%20blood%20pressure%2C%20also%20called,blood%20pressure%20(or%20hypertension).

Harvard Medical School. (2020) Reading the new blood pressure guidelines.  Harvard Health Publishing.  Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/reading-the-new-blood-pressure-guidelines

Mayo Clinic (2022) High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)  Mayo Clinic  Retrieved from . http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/basics/alternative-medicine/con-20019580

MNT. (2020) Everything You Need To Know About Hypertension.  Medical News Today.  Reetrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150109

Steinbaum, S. (2018) Symptoms of High Blood Pressure.  WebMD.  Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/guide/hypertension-symptoms-high-blood-pressure