Causes symptoms diagnosis and treatment of hypertension
What is hypertension?
The term hypertension is derived from two words Hyper and tension. The word hyper stands for high (increased) and tension means pressure. Generally in medical terminology the term hypertension is defined as increase in the amount of blood pressure in body. When the stress or pressure of blood increase in the blood vessels then it is termed as hypertension and the patient showing hypertension is called hypertensive patient. In normal words hypertension is called high BP (blood pressure). Hypertension is a common disorder in present era. The causes and symptoms of hypertension vary person to person. According to a brief report of world health organization almost 1.3 billion people I have hypertension worldwide. Most of the people with chronic in increased blood pressure does not even know about their pathology. They live almost all live without knowing that they are having hypertension. The normal blood pressure of a human being is 120 by 80 mmhg or mm Mercury. Any blood pressure that exceeds systolic 120 and diastolic 120 of blood pressure will be recognized as hypertension. Moreover blood pressure less than 80 will be counted as hypertension is low blood pressure. Both of the situation hypo and hyper are dangerous for human health and cause bundle of complications. The hypertension in the human body occurs when the body’s small blood vessels which are also called arterioles become narrow and cause the blood to exert more pressure against the walls of blood capillaries. As the pressure of blood against the walls of blood vessels increases it is hypertension as well as increase in the overall temperature of the body. The hypertension is dangerous for the human body because it causes the heart to work harder to pump the blood throughout the body so there is always risk of heart failure, kidney failure, and stroke etc.
Mild hypertension:
The blood pressure that range from 130-139/80-89 mmHG is termed as mild hypertension and does not have any harmful effect comparatively.
Moderate hypertension:
The blood pressure that range from 140- above/90-above is usually categorized as moderate hypertension and need some medical and attention. The moderate hypertension should be managed at home are hospital as suitable. The use of hypertensive traditional medicine is enough in moderate hypertension and can be treated at home if the medications are available and proper trained person who can administer the medication.
Severe hypertension:
The blood pressure that ranges from <180/120-above is termed as severe hypertension and need immediate medication and admission to the nearby hospital and complete medical check up through the trained medical official are physician. Chances of death double when the systolic blood pressure is increased from 180 mm of Mercury. It is very important for the immediate management of hypertension in order to save the life of the patient. The doctor will take the proper medical history of the patient coming with severe hypertension and treat it accordingly.
Causes of hypertension:
The to the point causes of hypertension are not still know to the medical science but there are certain things and habits that may can contribute widely in increasing the blood pressure of human brain some of them are illustrated below.
1) Smoking:
It has been noticed that most of the hypertensive patient are chronic smokers. The study shows that smoking may contribute in increasing blood pressure of human body. As the oxygen saturation level of smokers is less throughout the body which stimulates the heart to increase its beat every minute. Decrease in the oxygen saturation in blood cause increase in the heartbeat after of the patient which causes hypertension.
2) Obesity:
The overweight persons face hypertension in any period of their age. The narrowing of blood vessels of obese people may cause the consistently e increase blood pressure.
3) Too much sodium (salt)
As we know that the sodium cause increase in the blood pressure and cardiac output. People who eat too much salt cause increase in the sodium level of blood which leads to hypertension. The salt contains NaCl (sodium chloride) which causes a massive increase in the amount of blood pressure. So in order to maintain the blood pressure in the normal values you should stop having too much salt are sodium chloride in your daily diet.
4) Overdose of alcohol
also contributes a lot in increasing the blood pressure of human.
5) Not having proper exercise
on the daily basis effect of body by creating hypertension.
6) Sleep disturbance
Having a proper and appropriate sleep of 6 to 8 hours is compulsory for the normal health as well as normal blood pressure. Sleep disturbance means to say having small sleep at night and having stressful days can cause hypertension. Proper regulation of sleep cycle is necessary to maintain the BP in normal range.
7) Age factor
It has been noticed that the blood pressure continuously increase with time are age. The increase in age can causes permanent hypertension because the blood vessels of the human body become narrow with time which causes the resistance in the flow of blood through the vessels. This is the reason the old people may have the issues off increase blood pressure at their old age.
8) Medication:
There are certain medications that cause the increase in blood pressure such as atropine etc.
8) Stress:
The increase in stress to the body and the increase in appetite increase the blood pressure of the body.
Symptoms of hypertension:
The hypertension does not have proper symptoms but there are certain things that give us probability that the person is having hypertension. We can find the hypertension by using a device known as sphygmomanometer. The unit of blood pressure is mm/hg (mm Mercury).
It is very important for a healthy person to keep an eye on his/her blood pressure and have blood pressure checkup after at least 1 year. This will help the person to increase the comfort of life of patient in his older age. The chronic hypertension can also be diagnosed if the patient has regular BP check up in hospital.
Some common symptoms of acute and chronic hypertension:
1) Continuous headache
2) Migraine
3) Sinusitis
4) Increased intracranial pressure
5) Generalized body pain
6) Mood swings and feelings of stress and tiredness.
7) Dropped blood oxygen saturation which can be monitored by using a device known as pulse oxsimeter or through a Laboratory test called ABG (Arterial Blood Gasses).
Some other symptoms may occur which differ person to person and depends on different scenarios. It also wildly depends upon the co-morbid of the patient presented with hypertension.
Diagnosis:
After looking at sign and symptoms take a detailed medical history of the patient and find the root cause of the increased blood pressure. Try to remove the basic issue which is causing the increase in blood pressure. We basically diagnose a patient of hypertension using a device called sphygmomanometer.
For this procedure we put the BP cough on the arm of patience and fill it up with air. Then use a stethoscope to hear the sound of brachial artery. Fill the air at about 200 mm/Hg and realize is slowly, the point from where you here the palpation of artery and at the point where it stops give us the value of blood pressure. The normal value of the pressure of blood is 120 systolic and 80 diastolic and the unit of measurement is mm/Hg.
Treatment of hypertension:
The first line of treatment of a hypertensive patient is to ask him to focus and improve its life style and living habits. The patient should be encouraged to achieve healthy living i.e. having proper diet with appropriate sleep cycle. Quite smoke and all smoking related things (hukka, cigar). These are the basic things that a patient should understand before starting the proper treatment.
Medication for hypertension:
Angiotensin 2 receptor blocker
The patient may be recommended angiotensin_2 receptor blocker (ARB) if he/she is having age less than 55 years.
ACE inhibitors (angiotensin converting enzyme)
If the patient is older than 55 years then the calcium channel blockers are the drug of choice to manage the blood pressure.
These are usually given when the systolic blood pressure increases from 160. Which is a major threat to the body of human?
Beta blockers:
These are the drugs the causes the decrease in the heart rate and are very effective in controlling the blood pressure. Lobetalol is an example of beta blocker.
Calcium channel blockers:
The calcium channel blockers are the drugs which can cause the dilation of the blood vessels. The example of calcium channel blocker is amlodipine etc.
Diuretics:
Indapamide is an example of diuretics drug. The diuretics can cause the increase in the renal output and flush out water and salt from the body and contribute in lowering the blood pressure.
Some life style habits which can help us manage the blood pressure.
1) Decrease the use of salt in the daily food intake. Use less salt which will decrease the level of sodium in the blood which in return reduce the symptoms of hypertension.
2) Use small amount of fats in diet and use fresh fruits and vegetables in the dining table. The vegetables contain potassium which contributes to decrease the blood pressure in vessels.
3) Stop using alcohol and make sure that you are not consuming little amount of alcohol or beverage. As they are contributing factors.
4) Reduce the body weight which will help you a lot in reducing the blood pressure.
5) Quite smoke habits
6) Take very small amount of caffeine as it is found increasing the blood pressure. The caffeine is wildly present in the cola and coffee.
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