High blood pressure: what it is, what symptoms it produces, causes and treatment

High blood pressure: what it is, what symptoms it produces, causes and treatment

High blood pressure is a very common health problem, but what exactly does it consist of and what symptoms does it produce? What are its causes and what medical treatment helps in its control ?.

Also known as arterial hypertension, it is a disease that directly affects the heart, undoubtedly, a fundamental organ for life. Basically, its function is to pump blood with oxygen through the blood vessels, leading it to the different organs of the body.

When alterations occur in the levels of pressure that pump blood to the tissues, so-called cardiovascular diseases occur, namely: hypertension and hypotension.

High blood pressure is a chronic, highly dangerous disease that involves the elevation of blood pressure, that is, an abnormal increase in the rate of blood pumping; for this reason, if it is not diagnosed and treated in time, it can trigger and cause other serious diseases, for example, myocardial infarction, hemorrhage or cerebral thrombosis.

Currently, high blood pressure has become one of the leading causes of death in developed countries, mostly caused by poor eating habits and the sedentary lifestyle that characterizes these societies.

What are the symptoms of high blood pressure?
One of the most risk factors that people who suffer from this disease, is that it can go unnoticed in the body for a long period of time, because, in most cases, there are no clear and specific symptoms that allow the people recognize their condition and go on time to a health care center that provides the appropriate treatment.

However, there are certain “alerts” that can be associated with irregular elevations of tension, such as a headache or a severe headache, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, chest again, vision changes and nosebleeds.

It has happened on many occasions that this “silent killer” is discovered by chance when the patient goes to a doctor’s office for a routine check-up or goes to the health care center for the presence of any of the aforementioned symptoms.

What are the causes of high blood pressure?
Until now the exact causes of this disease are unknown, but as a result of several studies carried out and the existing coincidences between the cases, two very common large groups of cases are distinguishable: modifiable and non-modifiable.

The non-modifiable causes are related to several factors, among them we have:

The sex of the individual: for reasons of genetic predisposition, the male sex is more likely to suffer high blood pressure in contrast to the female, because women produce certain hormones that help them control the tension until they reach the age of menopause.
Genetic factors: it has been proven that the tendency to develop hypertension obeys, in the majority of cases, to antecedents in ascending hypertensive relatives.
Ethnic conditions and age: The genetic predisposition of people with dark skin to suffer from high blood pressure is frequent. As well as, the passage of time generates greater probabilities of suffering from this disease, we affirm it taking into account that the greater amount of hypertensive population is in advanced ages.

The modifiable causes:
This section includes overweight and obesity. People who are overweight have, in general, a greater predisposition to suffer from alterations in blood pressure as a result of the intake of foods with high caloric content, but this factor can be reduced by adopting good eating habits, in addition to a regulated practice of cardiovascular exercise.

Treatment and prevention
The treatment used to improve the quality of life of hypertensive individuals and reduce their risk of mortality is feasible if the proper use of the drugs prescribed by the health specialist is made, but it is also essential to make changes in important habits in the style of life of people, especially sedentary ones.

Mainly, special attention should be paid to food, this should be based on a balanced diet and the consumption of low-fat foods such as vegetables, vegetables, legumes and certain fruits, eliminating the intake of foods containing saturated fats, such as junk food and treats.

Similarly, a daily routine of physical exercises should be included to help the body improve its conditions in general and, of course, to reduce arterial hypertension.