High blood pressure (BP) or hypertension is a serious illness that can cause a lot of complications (heart disease, kidney failure, stroke etc). Early detection and aggressive treatment is very important.
Our experts have also made this list of important questions and things to know about hypertension. Click on any topic to read more:
What is high BP?Blood in our body is pumped with pressure generated in the heart. Normal (systemic) systolic blood pressure is less than 120 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure is less than 80 mm Hg. High blood pressure/hypertension is diagnosed when BP is above 140 mm Hg (systolic) and/or 90 mm Hg (diastolic) on two separate occasions.
Types of hypertension
1. Essential hypertension: When no specific cause is found, hypertension is referred to as “essential hypertension.” This subtype occurs in about 95% of all patients with hypertension and is usually managed with medications.
2. Secondary hypertension: Caused due to some other medical condition/illness (kidney or adrenal diseases etc) Diagnosis and treatment of underlying condition is critical for management of secondary hypertension.
Risk factors for hypertension
- Age 50 or older
- Personal history of diabetes or kidney disease
- Overweight (over 20% ideal weight)
- Smoker (or past smoker)
- Alcohol use
- Family history of hypertension
Treatment of hypertension
- Eat healthy – Plan what you will eat. Consume balanced, low-salt diet with no more than 2000 calories a day.
- Exercise regularly – 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a day for 3 days a week.
- Taking medicine as prescribed. If you have questions about the medications, our experts can help.
- Monitor your blood pressure levels at home
- Keeping your appointments with your doctor and get periodic laboratory tests to detect complications of high blood pressure.
Is hypertension curable?
Essential hypertension is considered to be a life-long disease without any available cure. A very small proportion of patients with essential hypertension who lose significant amount of weight can live without taking medications.
Just because you have hypertension doesn’t mean life will be worse. When motivated patients like you are treated by experts like us, there’s hope.
Don’t wait for complications… take the first step in the right direction now!