The wording “hypertension” may well frighten a patient who is not sure how much this diagnosis differs from a complex of symptoms caused by high blood pressure. If hypertension is detected, the patient should pay attention to the doctor’s recommendations, deal with the causes of the condition and begin to practice the treatment that the specialist will choose.
general information
The diagnosis "hypertension" means that a person suffers from arterial hypertension. Currently, pathology is one of the most common in representatives of our species. On average, one in three to four adults has hypertension. It is not difficult to identify the pathology - it is enough to regularly check the pressure indicators using a home blood pressure monitor.
The diagnosis formulation “hypertension” is used if the systole values reach 140 units and exceed this boundary. In this case, the diastole rises to 90 units or exceeds the specified threshold. Possible growth beyond measure only systole, diastole, or both indicators at the same time. If the parameters are increased stably, hypertension is diagnosed. To determine the pathology, it is necessary to regularly check the pressure indicators. Normally, the measurement frequency is a four-week program that includes at least three procedures. Indicators of 130/85 and less indicate the absence of violations.
Terms and Terminology
The wording of the diagnosis of "hypertension" can be specified by the word "essential." It is used for the case of a primary pathological condition in which a person is characterized by elevated blood pressure in the arteries, while it is not possible to determine the cause of the phenomenon.
Another variant of the formulation of the diagnosis of "hypertension" includes a mention of the symptomatic nature of the disorder. Such a disease is detected if elevated blood pressure is due to some reason.
Risk groups
Most often, by their own example, people of advanced age will learn about the formulation of the diagnosis of "hypertension". It is customary to distinguish several groups of phenomena indicating an increased danger of the development of pathology. The first category is individual, among which one of the most important is hereditary predisposition. If the parents had a pressure higher than normal, the likelihood of hypertension in the child is estimated at 75%. Genetics often creates the foundation for the formation of a stable pathological condition, aggravated by external aggressive factors.
Overweight people can learn from their example of the formulation of the diagnosis of "hypertension". Medical statistical studies have shown that up to 60% of all cases of hypertension in women is associated with extra pounds. For men, the frequency of occurrence of this nature of the phenomenon is another 10% higher. Getting rid of excess weight in most cases leads to an early normalization of the circulatory system.
Distribution Features
Factors of hypertension include diabetes mellitus. Among people suffering from endocrine disease, hypertension occurs on average twice as often as in others.
Statistical studies have shown that increased pressure among people younger than forty years of age is more often recorded in men. For older people, the difference in gender is less pronounced, the pathological condition is diagnosed with approximately equal frequency in both men and women.
Daily routine and pressure
In order for the interpretation to be correct regarding one’s own condition, the wording of the diagnosis of hypertension should be studied in detail, checking with the doctor about predisposing phenomena. The doctor will definitely pay attention to the factors that provoke the condition, due to the lifestyle. By adjusting them, you can significantly improve your condition. If a person belongs to a risk group for the development of pathology, work on eliminating external factors will help significantly reduce the risks to one's own health.
The risk group for hypertension includes people who are prone to mental stress, emotional stress. A pathology can provoke a commitment to bad habits, including alcohol, tobacco and strong coffee. Certain risks are associated with too little daily physical activity. Hypertension is more likely to occur if a person receives more than 5 grams of salt with food a day. Hypertension can form if the diet is too low in potassium. By reviewing the set of foods so that there is more potassium, you can normalize the pressure indicators.
Pathology: features
The course of hypertension is associated with a violation of vascular tone. Regions of small and large arteries are reborn, the state of arterioles is changing. The organs most sensitive to the pathological processes occurring in medicine are called targets: heart, kidneys, and brain. The circulatory system suffers significantly from ongoing degenerations.
About the work of the heart
With hypertension, clinical manifestations often include heart damage. The left ventricle becomes larger as the muscle grows in this area of the organ. Hypertrophy is the first signal about the violation of the heart as a target organ of hypertension. Long-term loads higher than normal on muscle tissue are accompanied by a significant effect on each unit of tissue, which means that organic structures are forced to function especially intensively. This causes a gain in muscle fibers. At the same time, the possibility of an influx of nutrient components is deteriorating, the cells of hypertrophied muscles do not receive the necessary energy.
With hypertrophy of the heart ventricle, muscle fibers of the organ grow, but the capillary system does not grow. Arteries that feed the organ cannot adapt to changing conditions, grow. The load is accompanied by a deterioration in the quality of blood supply, and a prolonged effect on the organ causes a depletion of functionality.
Causes and consequences
With hypertension, the clinical phenomena described earlier can provoke cardiac ischemia, heart attack. There is a risk of coronary unpredictable death. With a diastole of 105 units, the risk of cardiac ischemia is five times greater than with a diastole of 76 units.
One of the possible manifestations of hypertension is a failure of the rhythm of contraction of the heart muscle. Such violations do not become the basic manifestation of the pathology, but the frequency of cases increases in comparison with the previous healthy state. The progress of the disease is accompanied by an increased likelihood of symptoms of heart failure: chronic, acute form. The risks of congestion in the main organ of the human body increase approximately threefold in comparison with adequate indicators of pressure.
The target is the brain
As the stage progresses, the degree of hypertension increases the likelihood of a negative impact of the pathological condition on the patient’s brain. First, symptoms are observed that indicate blood flow disorders in the brain tissue. A person is sore and dizzy, noise disturbs, memory weakens. Sleep disturbances and hypersensitivity to weather changes are possible. Pathological changes in the brain under the influence of high blood pressure are indicated by similar symptoms that persist for a quarter of a year or longer.
Hypertension can cause transient malfunctions of the blood flow in the brain. There are no lasting consequences, but the risk of stroke increases: ischemic, hemorrhagic. The first is associated with the formation of a blood clot clogging the vessel, the second - with rupture of the vascular wall. Through damage, blood enters the surrounding tissue. It was found that the frequency of strokes is clearly related to indicators of pressure. With diastole 105 units or more, the risk of a pathological condition is ten times more significant than that of a person whose pressure is stably maintained at 76 units. Hypertension can cause dementia, which is accompanied by a deterioration in intelligence and loss of abilities previously inherent in humans.
About targets: kidneys are damaged
An anatomical organ disorder or functional malfunction is possible. The progress of hypertension is accompanied by increasing organ damage. Studies have shown that increased pressure affects the renal blood flow, due to which the organ is involved in the vascular response that spans the entire body. In this case, the kidneys become a region of localization of the reactions of generation of vasoconstrictor compounds. This leads to a decrease in arterial clearance and an even greater increase in pressure.
When hypertension is just beginning to develop, renal impairment is observed functional. Compensatory functions provide long-term preservation in adequate indicators of the organ and the characteristics of the blood flow in it. Frequent spasmodic repeats in small vessels provoke an increase in their thickness, while the muscles degenerate into fibrin. Vascular lumens become smaller, organ functionality is impaired, and elevated concentrations of protein structures are detected in urine. Functional renal impairment is indicated by the appearance of red blood cells in urine. The ability of the body to remove nitrogen compounds is inhibited.
Ability to see
Hypertension can cause visual disturbances. The state of vision allows you to determine the level and severity of disorders, therefore, it is considered one of the key diagnostic signs. Small blood vessels located in the retina are narrowing, blood flow is obstructed, the tortuosity of the vessels is progressing, and the caliber is becoming more and more uneven. This provokes ruptures of the vascular wall, pinpoint hemorrhages. If increased pressure leads to a serious pathological condition, elements of the optic nerve are reborn.
When diagnosing the condition, the doctor examines the fundus of the patient. A benign form of the disease is accompanied by a characteristic picture of the fundus, which allows a clear assessment of the state of the vessels of the brain. With numerous arterial, capillary destruction, they speak of malignant hypertension.
Vascular changes
Hypertension is associated with a doubling risk of atherosclerosis localized in the arteries. The vascular lumen is clogged, a plaque can cause a violation of the flow of blood to the heart. Atherosclerosis can provoke damage to the vascular system of the limbs, due to which the legs hurt, a person is lame. Among the complications, an often encountered option is an aortic dissecting aneurysm, that is, the formation on the vessel wall that visually looks like a bag. Aneurysm can burst, and this happens suddenly and unpredictably. Such a complication is associated with a risk of death.
On average, as can be seen from medical statistics, among all deaths, almost half of the cases provoked by heart diseases and pathologies of the vascular system. Normalization of pressure to average indicators helps to reduce the risks of death, reduce the risk of ischemia, stroke.
Do I need to treat
Therapy of hypertension is aimed at reducing the incidence, the risk of death due to pathologies caused by high blood pressure. Doctors select a therapeutic course that allows maintaining stable indicators normal for a particular organism, thereby improving the quality of life of the patient. The goal of treatment is to exclude complications, the progress of the disease. The best results can be achieved if the treatment program is started in a timely manner, regularly takes the means prescribed by the doctor, and checks the condition of the body.
The therapeutic course involves the administration of drugs and the regular practice of non-drug approaches. With hypertension, the doctor's recommendations will help to stabilize weight and get rid of obesity in the presence of such a problem. The doctor will recommend completely eliminating alcohol from life, and into the daily routine of introducing the habit of doing gymnastics. Exercise in reasonable amounts, with a certain regularity, significantly reduces the risk of developing numerous diseases of vital organs. With increased pressure, it is worth revising the nutrition program so that no more than 5 g of salt is ingested daily, while adequate amounts of potassium, magnesium, and calcium are ingested. But the food supplying cholesterol, as well as foods rich in animals saturated with fatty structures, are contraindicated.
Diagnostic nuances
Suspecting hypertension, the patient is prescribed regular monitoring of pressure indicators. To do this, it is enough to use a tonometer, which is possible at home. In addition, the doctor will direct the patient to a number of tests and instrumental studies. It is necessary to make an ECG, examine urine, blood for general significant indicators. It is important to evaluate creatinine clearance, sugar content in the circulatory system, and fat profile. The patient is recommended to do an ultrasound examination of the cervical vessels, heart, kidneys, sent to an ophthalmologist studying the fundus of the eye. The parameters of the heart, pressure is checked within 24 hours (daily monitoring). To assess the work of internal structures, do tests with a load. They can recommend MRI, CT, X-ray, angiography, which allows you to examine the circulatory system through a contrast compound.
What to do
A qualified doctor should choose the drugs to treat hypertension. The most problematic is to choose a therapeutic program for the elderly - that is, the main percentage of patients with hypertension. In the absence of complications and individual intolerance, thiazide diuretics are prescribed. The older the patient, the stronger the substances affect his body, the smaller the dose. Excessive use of such compounds is associated with the risk of cholesterol accumulation in the circulatory system. With a lack of potassium, sodium in the body, you can use diuretics aimed at preserving potassium. You can not use this trace element as a food supplement, especially in old age, when the kidneys can hardly cope with cleansing the blood and removing excess volumes of various compounds from the body.
If it is impossible to prescribe diuretics for hypertension, treatment with beta-blockers is indicated.