The human body is akin to a watch. All systems are in close interconnection with each other, and the failure of a link causes a violation of the functionality of other organs.
Of particular health hazard is an increase in blood pressure. What is the danger of hypertension? Such a process leads to an inevitable failure in the work of many organs and systems. Medical statistics claim that pathology carries a greater danger than a cancerous tumor, tuberculosis or a deficiency of immunity. As a rule, an illness is diagnosed in the later stages, with the already formed mechanism of destruction of the body.
Signs of Hypertension
What are the symptoms of hypertension and why is it dangerous?
The obvious signs include:
- Migraine, which can occur at any time of the day, both at night and in the morning.
- Pain sensations that do not have a clear localization. Patients often compare pain to a squeezing hoop. Sometimes the pain becomes more intense when coughing, sneezing, or moving your head. Pain can be accompanied by swelling of the eyelids and face.
- Tingling in the heart, which may occur at rest or during a period of nervous tension.
- Building the ability to see objects. Eyes are covered with a veil. Patients complain of "flies" before their eyes.
- Dizziness and tinnitus.
- Feeling nauseous.
Degrees of hypertension
It is customary to distinguish three degrees of hypertension:
- The disease is mild. With it, the systolic pressure indicator is at around 140-159 mm RT. Art., and diastolic - in the region of 90-99 mm RT. Art. Hypertension of this degree is characterized by periodic jumps of indicators. The pressure can normalize by itself, and then rise again to a high mark.
- Moderate hypertension. Blood pressure with it has the following indicators: systolic is 160-179 mm RT. Art., and diastolic - 100-109 mm RT. Art. For an ailment of this degree, more persistent changes are characteristic. To the optimum value, indicators are lowered in rare cases.
- Hypertension 3 degrees. She is classified as severe pathology. The systolic pressure reaches 180 mm RT. Art., and diastolic - up to 110 mm RT. Art. At this degree, the pressure is held steady in the area of pathological marks.
In parallel with the degree of development of the disease, all risk factors are evaluated, which can lead to significant complications in the body. The cardiovascular system is most affected.
It should be noted that the disease at the initial stage can be stopped by the following methods:
- following a certain diet that does not include salty and fatty foods;
- giving up bad habits (smoking and alcohol abuse);
- increased physical activity for at least half an hour a day;
- getting rid of excess weight;
- establishing the regime of the day;
- avoidance of stress and nervous strain.
The article will describe why hypertension is dangerous and why it should be treated as soon as possible.
Complications arising at the last stage of hypertension
A disease characterized by an increase in blood pressure to 169 by 109 mm Hg. Art., is classified as hypertension of 3 degrees.
What is the danger of grade 3 hypertension? It severely disrupts the functionality of the body and causes many different complications that occur very often. In this case, lesions of the heart system, brain and kidneys trigger a pathological circle and complicate the course of hypertension itself.
The state of the nervous system with hypertension
What is the danger of hypertension for the state of the nervous system? If the disease takes a chronic form, then the level of damage to the walls of the vessels of the brain increases sharply. This is due to the fact that in case of hypertension, the speed of blood flow through the venous bed increases sharply. It is obvious that the accelerated blood flow presses on the walls of blood vessels and contributes to their expansion. If the impact is not persistent, then the structure of the walls, as a rule, is restored. But if the process acquires a chronic course, then the vessels become unprotected.
Pressure on the walls of blood vessels is accompanied by the penetration of water and proteins into the space between cells. Hydrocephalus helps compress brain tissue. The trigger mechanism for migraine is exactly the same, although with arterial hypertension it is accompanied by the release of water from the vascular bed. Such a process can occur without expansion of the walls of blood vessels. Therefore, stage 3 hypertension is a high threat to human health.
With increased pressure, the occurrence of:
- hemorrhagic stroke;
- arterial aneurysms;
- intracerebral or intracranial hematoma.
What is the danger of hypertension and why a part of the brain can undergo ischemia? With the persistence of the pathological process, compaction and narrowing of the vessels occurs, which is especially dangerous in combination with the narrowing of the carotid artery. The brain does not receive enough oxygen. With a lack of blood supply, dyscirculatory encephalopathy can develop, which develops into dementia.
What is the danger of hypertension for internal organs?
Various medical studies of recent decades have shown that hypertension can have a devastating effect on the whole body. But some organs suffer more. As a rule, the so-called target organs are affected. Without proper therapy, the pathological process may become irreversible.
The most common complications of increasing blood pressure include:
- hypertrophy - a noticeable increase in the size of the ventricles of the heart;
- rupture of blood vessels in the fundus;
- damage to kidney function;
- violation of the reproductive system;
- the development of diabetes;
- pancreatitis
- pathological changes in the vessels of the brain.
Occurring Vision Problems
In the process of a sharp rise in blood pressure indicators, large vessels undergo expansion, which makes it possible to pump increased blood volume. Small vessels, on the contrary, cease to fulfill their function, so over time they begin to sclerosize. Human eyes are covered with a network of very small capillaries. With insufficient nutrition, they begin to thin out, and their walls are destroyed. As a result, pathology provokes persistent changes in the optic nerve.
Such processes are irreversible and can lead to a complete loss of the ability to see. More than 70% of patients diagnosed with hypertension have concomitant eye diseases.
Varieties of eye pathology
Depending on the degree of damage to the fundus, the following types of pathology are distinguished:
- Hypertensive angiopathy. It occurs in the initial stages of the disease. Changes occur at the level of the vascular system of the retina and are reversible with rational treatment.
- Angiosclerosis - inherent in 2 stages of the pathological process. With it, the walls of blood vessels and arteries thicken.
- Hypertensive retinopathy. Characteristic for stage 3 hypertension. With it, the eye retina is involved in the pathological process, focal opacities and hemorrhages occur.
- Hypertensive neuroretinopathy. In this lesion, the functionality of the optic nerve is affected up to its complete extinction.
Is hypertension dangerous in case of pancreatic dysfunction? With diabetes, the vessels of the eye retina are destroyed very rapidly. This pathology provokes the deposition of a hyaline-like substance in the arterial wall, which causes the process of sclerotherapy of arteries. Hemorrhages are noted on the retina.
Coronary heart disease
What is the danger of hypertension and why is a portion of the heart muscle sclerotic? Coronary heart disease is a serious disease leading to irreversible structural changes in the region of the heart muscle, up to the death of some of its areas, which leads to heart attack. The primary role in the development of ischemia is played by a lack of oxygen in tissues and organs under the influence of high blood pressure.
Damage to the heart muscle in the presence of arterial hypertension has an organic basis. Due to the increased load necessary to overcome the resistance to the vessels, the left ventricle is hypertrophied. At a certain point, compression of the epicardial arteries that feed the myocardium occurs. With ischemia, the heart muscle is stretched, which provokes dilatation of the left ventricle. This disorder is the morphological basis of heart failure.
What is the danger of hypertension for blood vessels? With a disease, the walls of the vessels become tense under the influence of the increased pressure exerted by the blood. They become less durable, which can trigger the occurrence of atherosclerosis.
The ability to pass blood in vessels decreases. In addition, the narrowed area may become clogged with a thrombus. In those areas in which the walls have less elasticity, aneurysms can form. It can provoke internal bleeding and death.
Acute renal failure
What is the danger of hypertension for the kidneys? There is a direct link between impaired renal function and hypertension. Moreover, it is continuous. The pathological process proceeds in a circle. The kidneys can play the role of a provocateur of hypertension, and serve as its target.
The primary violation of blood pressure may be due to a malfunction in the kidneys. The pathological process consists in insufficient excretion of salts and sodium from the body by the kidneys. Hypertension provokes narrowing of the vessels that feed the organs. The deterioration of blood flow causes the death of kidney cells - nephrons, which causes an even greater violation of the excretion of salts from the body due to the reduced volume of the filtration surface. This pathology causes an increase in the volume of circulating blood and, as a result, an increase in pressure indicators.
To prove the theory of the influence of acute renal failure on blood pressure, a laboratory experiment was conducted in 1975, during which a rat without a hypertension was transplanted with the kidney of another rat, which had a pathology. As a result, a healthy rodent got sick.
Conclusion
Many people are interested in: what is the danger of arterial hypertension? It can cause serious complications. The insidiousness of the disease lies in the fact that in the initial stages it often goes unnoticed.
It is difficult to overestimate the negative impact of increased blood pressure on the work of internal organs. Pathology disrupts the work of the whole organism. The sooner therapy is started, the fewer complications will be provoked.