What is hypertension? ICD-10 recognizes it under the code I10-I15. Hypertensive crisis is dangerous because it causes significant complications - vital organs are affected: the liver, kidneys, heart and brain. In addition, a hypertensive crisis can cause a decrease in vision. For this reason, if there are signs of a crisis, it is important to help promptly and in a quality manner. It consists in eliminating the symptoms and avoiding complications. Substances that allow the rapid renewal of typical blood pressure should be selected by a competent specialist. An overdose of pharmaceuticals or too strong action can be a factor in additional problems with blood supply. In this case, the tissues and organs will be deprived of the required amount of oxygen.
The doctor chooses the medication, taking into account the age of the patient and the characteristic features of his body. When providing assistance, it is important to clearly think over the speed of lowering blood pressure and an acceptable level that must be achieved in the end. In more detail about what hypertension is, the stages, risks and degrees, further.
The root cause of hypertension and risk conditions
The factor of hypertension is considered to be frequent, prolonged neuropsychic stress, prolonged stressful conditions. Often the promise of the appearance of hypertension is work, during which a person constantly feels emotional pressure. In addition, there is a significant possibility of the formation of hypertension in people who have had head injuries. Hereditary tendency can also be one of the factors causing the appearance of hypertension: if someone in the family suffered from a similar disease, then the possibility of hypertension formation increases by a couple of times.
One of the main factors of hypertension can be physical inactivity. With age, if old people begin to feel sclerosis and age-related changes in blood vessels occur, the formation of hypertension can worsen the problem, causing sclerosis to develop. This is a rather unsafe manifestation, since with severe vasospasm, blood access to the brain, heart, and kidneys becomes critically small. If there are plaques in the walls of the blood arteries, with intense spasm of the blood vessels, the blood can completely stop reaching the vital organs and spread through the arteries. In this case, there is a rupture of the heart or a hemorrhage in the brain.
In women, the factor of hypertension may be the time of hormonal changes in the body with menopause. Salt, and more specifically, sodium contained in it, as well as smoking, alcohol abuse and overweight also contribute to increased stress on the heart system.
The following conditions can be attributed to factors of hypertension:
- overweight due to pathology of metabolism, endocrine diseases, sedentary lifestyle, etc.
- regular emotional stress, the patient's stay in nervous situations, apathy, tragedy experienced, etc.
- strong nervous tension provoked by difficulties at work, in business;
- cerebral concussion;
- chronic diseases that have a negative effect on the cardiovascular system;
- hereditary addiction;
- viral and infectious diseases, the results of which can be expressed in the form of hypertension;
- age-related modifications of blood vessels;
- increased presence of cholesterol in the blood, in which plaques appear on the walls of blood vessels that interfere with normal blood circulation;
- the climacteric state in which girls who have overcome the 40-year milestone stay (during a period of significant hormonal changes in the body, latent diseases often begin to develop, against which arterial hypertension can form);
- addictions (smoking, drinking large quantities of alcohol, excessive passion for coffee);
- daily use of salt in huge quantities;
- excessive increase in adrenaline in the blood;
- long time spending for PC;
- sedentary mode of existence;
- rare walks in the fresh air, etc.
Stages of hypertension
Modern medicine determines 3 stages of arterial hypertension:
- Hypertension of the 1st degree of risk - blood pressure 140–159 / 90–99 millimeters of mercury. Art. Periodically returns to typical numbers, after which again rise.
- Hypertension of the 2nd degree of risk - varies between 160–179 / 100–109 millimeters of mercury. Art. It is often understood and very rarely returned to normal.
- Hypertension 3 degrees of risk - rises to 180 and above / 110 millimeters of mercury. Art. Practically kept high, and its reduction can be an indicator of a malfunction in the heart.
The fourth stage leads to death.
1 degree of illness
At the first degree, the patient may not feel significant changes in his own body. Very often the pressure, which due to specific factors rises up to the characteristics 130/80 or 150/90, will itself return to its usual borders (120/80).
It is possible to detect hypertension in the first stage only if the patient begins to independently control pressure. The formed schedule will enable the specialist to make specific conclusions and establish a clear history.
Stage 2 disease
Hypertension 2 degree 2 risk is often accompanied by pain in the head, vomiting, fatigue, complete depression, etc.
In patients, the pressure rises and holds for a long period in the range from 155/110 up to 170/120. Hypertension risk 2 itself is extremely rare to return to normal, for this reason patients need medication.
3 degree of hypertension
Hypertension of the 3rd stage is considered the most unsafe, since with it in many patients the pressure can reach the characteristics of 180/110 and more.
With hypertension, many patients (especially at stages 2 and 3) can experience hypertensive crises, during which pressure increases rapidly.
A sudden decrease in blood pressure in hypertension 3 risk 4 experts can be regarded as a criterion in the violation of the heart and become an excuse for a consultation with a cardiologist. The symptoms of hypertension begin to be clearly expressed in patients, which makes people resort to medical help for help.
This group of patients has a need for long-term treatment (often in a hospital setting), which takes into account the intake of specialized medical substances and the passage of physiotherapeutic operations.
With such seizures of grade 3 hypertension, the following symptoms can be monitored in patients:
- nausea and vomiting;
- heartache;
- severe pain in the head;
- dizziness;
- profuse sweating, etc.
The hypertensive crisis can be completed after a couple of minutes, and can last up to a couple of hours. Such patients need urgent medical attention.
Hypertension of the 3rd and 4th degree is the most dangerous.
Hypertension 4 degrees
Some experts identify and hypertension 4 degrees, very difficult. In most situations, the lethal outcome is close. The patient’s suffering is tried to simplify as much as possible, and in case of hypertensive crisis they provide first aid. The patient is placed, raising his head. He is immediately given medications that quickly lower his blood pressure.
In the absence of treatment, new complications arise. Some of them provoke others, and diseases are increasingly conquering a person. To stop this harmful process in a timely manner, you just need to observe the dynamics of changes in your own blood pressure, even with an ordinary blood pressure monitor.
Diagnosis of hypertension
In order to establish the correct diagnosis for a patient in whom the symptoms of arterial hypertension were detected, the doctor must conduct a set of tests and diagnostics that contain both laboratory and hardware tests. The purpose of diagnosis is to establish the stage and degree of hypertension. In consequence of this information, the treating doctor will be able to choose a more effective therapy.
Due to the fact that hypertension in the first stage of its formation is often asymptomatic, most patients go to the hospital too late. In such options, patients need to stock up perseverance, since hypertension is very difficult to cure and can accompany a person throughout life. In order not to lose time, which is so important, and get instant medical help, you should carefully monitor your own health and instantly respond to all kinds of disturbing signals from the body.
In everyday circumstances, each person is obliged to constantly determine the level of pressure using a tonometer. Recommended characteristics are 110/70, for older people, a value of 120/80 is possible. An increase in systolic pressure by 4-9 points can be due to transformations of weather conditions, very large physiological and mental stress. A very large difference between the upper and lower pressure is also considered a factor for concern, normally this coefficient should not be higher than 50 units. In the event that a person often reveals jumps in blood pressure in himself, immediately he should immediately resort to the nearest medical institution for advice from the right specialist.
Medication for pressure
After you figure out what hypertension is, it is worth learning about its treatment. Drug therapy for hypertension is needed if the pressure reaches values greater than 160 to 90 millimeters. Hg. Art., if hypertension is formed against a background of systemic diseases, diabetes mellitus, heart and kidney failure. The use of drugs is necessary already at such values as 130 to 75.
With increased pressure in the heart and mild forms of hypertension, therapy is carried out with one substance, which is taken every 10 or 20 hours.
Combined treatment of the disease is carried out using a pair of substances. In a similar way, their greatest effectiveness is achieved at small doses and the likelihood of secondary results is reduced.
Thiazide diuretics and sulfonamides
Pharmaceutical substances that improve urine output and its formation include sulfonamides and thiazide diuretics. The medical result is achieved by reducing puffiness, as a result of which the lumen of the vessels increases and bleeding improves, and the pressure decreases.
Beta blockers
Substances of this category are used both for the purpose of self-healing, and in combination with other honey. drugs. Assigned in acute forms in patients with a significant risk of the formation of cardiovascular diseases in pre-infarction conditions, angina pectoris, heart failure, with stable atrial fibrillation.
The course of monotherapy with beta-blockers lasts from two up to four weeks, after which they are combined with calcium channel blockers and diuretics.
Metoprolol, Carvedilol, Bisoprolol, Betaxalol and Nebivolol are used in the long-term therapy of hypertension, which reduces the possibility of mortality during one of its seizures. "Betaxalol", in addition, is often prescribed for arterial hypertension in the fairer sex during menopause.
Angiotensin converting enzyme
Reduction of the vascular lumen under the influence of angiotensin plays a significant role in the mechanism of formation of hypertension. Substances in this category block the conversion of renin to angiotensin, due to which the pressure normalizes. Such drugs help prevent thickening of the heart muscle and can help resume normal heart function with hypertrophy of its tissues.
- "Clonidine" is no longer prescribed for the treatment of hypertension, but it is used by elderly patients who have quite intense addiction to the drug and those who do not want to change the course of treatment to more innovative and effective medications.
- "Andipal" - tablets with a mild effect, it is impossible to remove a severe attack of hypertension with their help, and this medication is not used to cure arterial hypertension. It can be offered with vascular dystonia.
- "Moxonidine" is an imidazole receptor agonist medication that shows excellent results in metabolic syndrome and mild hypertension.
Sartans
Innovative substances that have been used since the 90s make it possible to reduce the pressure on the day for a reception in the morning or in the evening. "Candesartan" - the most powerful of the substances in this category, stabilizes blood pressure for two days. After discontinuation, withdrawal syndrome does not appear, among the secondary results is a dry cough. The cure rate is from 4-6 weeks, during this time a steady result is achieved. Sartans remove spasms of the walls of the renal vessels, which makes it possible to exclude renal hypertension. They are used independently and in the complex treatment of resistant hypertension.
Calcium channel blockers
These substances are prescribed for elderly patients to cure hypertension, in which pathologies of cardiac activity are traced. The drugs are taken in combination with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, which makes it possible to remove diuretics from the course.
What to use during a crisis?
With unstable hypertension, sudden pressure surges occur from time to time. In medicine, they are called hypertensive crises.
In such a period, a person is not able to stay for a very long time, but his condition is very aggravated due to such manifestations of the disease as:
- Pain in the head.
- Pressure surges up to 150 by 95 mm. Hg. Art.
- The orientation in space is disturbed, accompanied by nausea and visual impairment before its fleeting loss.
- Pathological feeling of fear.
- Sudden redness of the face during the crisis.
The crisis will require a cure. Therapeutic intervention in this case involves a combination of a pair of pharmaceutical substances and the provision of immediate assistance to the victim.
Antihypertensive drugs can only be taken with the goal of gradually reducing crises that are not accompanied by any burdens.
Here are certain substances that can stop the crisis:
- "Nifedipine" resolves under the tongue, the result is observed for approximately several hours.
- Beta-blockers - certain substances like atenolol and esmolol are used when there is a need for synthetic regulation of the activity of the sympathetic nervous system.
- "Captopril" is taken from 10 up to 50 mg inside, the effect of the drug lasts about 5 hours.
- Diuretics. The medicine for the treatment of hypertensive crises should be administered intravenously, in a dose of 1 mg / kg of body weight. The medication has different effectiveness depending on the personal interaction of the body, for this reason the doctor is able to increase the dose to 12 mg / kg of body weight.
Vasodilators, for example, sodium nitroprusside is able to block nitric oxide in the vessel wall, as a result of which relaxation of the arteries is observed.
Physiological load
Any physiological stress in patients with mild to moderate hypertension contributes to an increase in the physiological capacity of the body. Exercises aimed at endurance training lead to a significant antihypertensive effect. It is recommended that physiological exercises be given for half an hour a day, increasing the load from low to medium over time.
Low salt diet
The amount of edible salt must be reduced to 5 g (1 teaspoon). It should be borne in mind that numerous food products themselves include a lot of salt. Thus, remove the salt shaker from the table and in any case do not salt the prepared dishes. Instead, you can use aromatic herbs, garlic. If it is difficult to do without salt, it is possible to buy salt with a reduced sodium intake, the taste of which is practically no different from ordinary salt.
Use less fat.
Gradually remove butter, cheeses, sausages, sour cream, lard and cutlets from your own menu. Replace them with vegetables, fruits, vegetable oil and not very oily fish. Eat low-fat dairy foods. As a result of this, you can control blood cholesterol (prevention of atherosclerosis), restore weight and at the same time expand your own diet with potassium, which is very useful for arterial hypertension.
Psychological relief
Stress is one of the key factors in increasing blood pressure. For this reason, it is very important to master the ways of emotional discharge. It is important to try to see the positive aspects in everything, to find pleasure in life, to work on your character, changing it in the direction of greater tolerance for other people's shortcomings, cheerfulness, poise. Hiking, exercise, hobbies and interacting with pets can also help maintain internal balance.
It is very important to know what hypertension is. After all, it is easier to treat at the initial stage than at later stages. After all, then she is treatable.