What You Should Know About Hypertension Syndrome
Hypertension or high blood pressure is a chronic condition where the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. Statistics revealed that approximately 1 in every 5 or 50 million people in the USA has hypertension. More than 30% of that 50 million are undiagnosed to have hypertension and that is about 15 million American people.
There are two types of hypertension. These are primary or essential hypertension and secondary hypertension. Primary or essential hypertension is the most common with about 90-95% of all cases of hypertension. This type of hypertension does not have a known cause. Secondary hypertension accounts only 5-10% of all hypertension cases and is caused by known medical conditions that affect the arteries, heart, kidneys or endocrine system.
The American Heart Association made a classification for hypertension. Hypertension has five classifications. First is NORMAL where the systolic pressure is between 90-119 and the diastolic pressure is between 60-79. Second is PREHYPERTENSION where the systolic pressure is between 120-139 and the diastolic pressure is between 80-89. Third is STAGE 1 where the systolic is between 140-159 and the diastolic is between 90-99. Fourth is STAGE 2 where the systolic is greater than or equal to 160 and the diastolic is equal or greater than 100. Last is ISOLATED SYSTOLIC HYPERTENSION where the systolic is greater than or equal to 140 and the diastolic is less than 90.
Hypertension is one risk factor that can cause stroke, myocardial infarction, arterial aneurysm and heart failure. It is known as the leading cause of chronic kidney failure. Also, hypertension shortens the lifespan of an individual if this is not taken care of.
Hypertension is caused by many factors. These are smoking, alcohol drinking, sedentary lifestyle (increases the risk of hypertension for about 30%), poor diet, stress, existing medical conditions and familial link to the condition.
Hypertension syndrome or signs and symptoms of hypertension are headache, confusion, vision disorders, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, rupture of small blood vessels, difficulty in breathing, failure to thrive (children) and nose bleeding.
Diagnosis of hypertension is done simply by checking of the blood pressure. The blood pressure should be consistently elevated for two consecutive pressure checks to establish the condition.
Treatment of hypertension depends on the classification of hypertension. Prehypertension stage is usually managed with lifestyle modifications, healthy diet, weight monitoring, stress reduction techniques and frequent exercises. For stage 1 and up, hypertension is managed with medications. There are a lot of medications in the market today that can combat hypertension. The kind of medication to be taken is actually based on the condition of the patient to prevent adverse reactions. So it is best to have your condition checked by a physician so that your condition can be managed well. Buying over-the-counter anti hypertensive meds is discouraged.
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