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Today is Hypertension Awareness Day, and the best way to celebrate it is to learn more about the silent killer that is responsible for more than 40 percent of all heart attacks, 50 percent of strokes, and 60 percent of kidney failure all over the world.
Hypertension is a silent killer, some individuals living with the disorder for years on end before they realize it. High blood pressure doesn’t come with clear symptoms like the majority of life-threatening conditions, but there are a couple of signs that mustn’t be ignored.
Severe Headaches
Very high levels of blood pressure, or malignant hypertension, causes severe and regular headaches. The aches occur because hypertension creates additional pressure in the cranium of the patient. The higher the blood pressure, the more intense the headaches.
Blurred Vision
Due to the fact that the brain is filled with tiny blood vessels that bring in oxygen and carry out carbon dioxide, and to the fact that it is one of the most sensible organs in the human body, high blood pressure can cause a lot of damage.
When an individual suffers from hypertension, its brain has a tendency to swell because of the intracranial pressure resulting from the condition. The nervous connections of the eyes are directly connected to the affected area of the brain, thus causing the patient to experience episodes of blurred vision.
Unfortunately, if left untreated, hypertension can lead to permanent vision impairment.
Breathlessness
Hypertension doesn’t just increase intracranial pressure. It also enhances the amount of pressure in the heart chambers. This causes the ventricles to thicken so that they can resist to the increased pressure. However, when these chambers thicken, there is less space left for the blood. This leads to blood clustering in the lungs, the primary cause of breathlessness.
Sleepiness and Fatigue
All of our internal organs are weakened by hypertension due to the fact that they aren’t receiving the proper amount of oxygen and nutrients because of the compromised blood flow.
In order to compensate for the lack of proper maintenance, our body tends to tell us to rest more so that we can conserve energy.
Nausea
Nausea is a direct effect of the lack of oxygen in the brain that is caused by the impaired blood flow.
Epistaxis
Epistaxis, or nose bleed, are most commonly caused by a sudden spike in blood pressure. If patients suffer more than one episode, they should consult a physician as soon as possible.
Image source: Torange
