Written By: Dr Nilesh Gautam | Published : June 2, 2014 3:05 PM IST
Hypertension or high blood pressure is one of the most common ailments today. Considered a manageable condition, most people tend to take adhering to their medication extremely lightly, and think nothing of missing a dose or two. But hypertension is no simple disease. Not only is it capable of causing severe and permanent damage to the body, hypertension can even kill you. In this article Dr Nilesh Gautham, cardiologist at the Asian Heart Institute tells us about the dangers and complications of uncontrolled high blood pressure.
What are the dangers of uncontrolled BP?
Simply put, uncontrolled high blood pressure (HBP) can injure or kill you. Also known as 'the silent killer', high BP has no symptoms, making it very difficult to gauge how severely the condition is damaging your arteries, heart and other organs.
Here are the possible health consequences that occur over time:
Individuals whose blood pressure is higher than 140/90 mm Hg (140 systolic or 90 diastolic) often become patients treated for serious cardiovascular problems.
What complications can it lead to?
Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to:
Heart attacks or stroke: High blood pressure can cause hardening and thickening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), which can lead to a heart attack, stroke or other complications.
Aneurysm: Increased blood pressure can cause your blood vessels to weaken and bulge, forming an aneurysm. If an aneurysm ruptures, it can be life-threatening.
Heart failure: In order to pump blood against the higher pressure in your blood vessels, your heart muscles thicken. Eventually, the thickened muscle may have a hard time pumping enough blood to meet your body's needs, which can lead to heart failure.
Weakened and narrowed blood vessels in your kidneys: This can prevent your kidneys from functioning normally.
Thickened, narrowed or torn blood vessels in the eyes: Which can lead to vision loss.
Metabolic syndrome: This syndrome is a cluster of disorders of your body's metabolism, including increased waist circumference, high triglycerides, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or 'good' cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high insulin levels.If you have high blood pressure, you're more likely to have other components of metabolic syndrome. The more components you have, the greater your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease or stroke.
Trouble with memory or understanding: Uncontrolled high blood pressure may also affect your ability to think, remember and learn. Trouble with memory or understanding concepts is more common in people with high blood pressure.
Here are 9 common indicators of your blood pressure being too high or too low
These symptoms are by no means all-inclusive, but serve as a useful guide. Please note that not exhibiting these symptoms does not necessarily mean you do not have high blood pressure.
When should a person with uncontrolled BP visit a doctor?
High blood pressure often causes no symptoms for a long time. Even if your blood pressure is high, you may feel fine. This is why many people who have high blood pressure don't pay attention to it until they have a heart attack, a stroke, kidney damage, or other serious health problem. That's why you should have your blood pressure checked regularly. If you have never been diagnosed with hypertension and you have no other serious medical problems, the American Heart Association recommends that you have your blood pressure checked at least once every 2 years.
In some people their blood pressure rises quickly and becomes excessively high all of a sudden. This causes the diastolic blood pressure to rise to 130 or higher and is considered a medical emergency is called malignant, or accelerated, high blood pressure. Here are the symptoms of malignant high blood pressure include the following:
Finally, high blood pressure is a serious condition and not paying attention to it, or leaving it untreated could have serious consequences. If you have high blood pressure it is imperative that you seek immediate medical attention.
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