High blood pressure can often show no symptoms, particularly in the early stages, and can damage your body for years. Once it has elevated, it can become a serious condition and, if left uncontrolled, can lead to various serious complications such as heart attack, stroke or kidney failure.
While each hypertension patient is different and requires a personalised treatment regimen in collaboration with his or her physician, there are some changes to daily routines that can reduce the risks. These include lifestyle changes like losing weight, exercising regularly or giving up smoking.
THE DANGERS OF HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
Having prolonged and untreated high blood pressure brings significant dangers such as1:
INCREASED RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
High blood pressure can damage the cells in your arteries, and make the artery walls thick and stiff. Such arteries are known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
CHEST PAIN (ANGINA) AND HEART ATTACK
High blood pressure and lifestyle habits can cause coronary artery disease, which leads to a narrowing of blood vessels and limits blood flow. When blood cannot flow freely to your heart, you can experience chest pain (angina), a heart attack or irregular heartbeat.
STROKE
Your brain requires a constant blood supply to function properly. High blood pressure can cause a stroke by damaging and weakening the blood vessels in your brain, causing them to narrow, rupture or leak. In addition, blood clots can form in the arteries leading to your brain and block blood flow.
KIDNEY FAILURE
High blood pressure is one of the most common causes of kidney failure because it can damage both the large arteries leading to your kidneys and the tiny blood vessels within the kidneys.
1
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. www.nhlbi.nih.gov
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