High blood pressure is like a silent killer, causing a lot of deaths each year in the world, without letting the patient know about its presence. Before discussing about high blood pressure we should know what blood pressure is.

Blood Pressure

Blood is the fluid that sustains life within the body, as it carries necessary nutrients and oxygen to the tissues and organs that need them to keep the body up and running. By-products of metabolism are transported by the blood and filtered for removal or excretion. When an infectious organism such as pathogen finds its way into the body, the blood components act up to defend the body from getting diseased.

The heart is the organ that pumps continually without the conscious control of the mind. The pumping action creates a pressure gradient that allows blood to flow quickly all over the body, even against the forces of gravity. Blood vessels like the arteries, veins, and capillaries, are the highways by which the blood, along with the substances it carries, is transported.

Blood pressure is the force in the arteries when the heart beats. The pressure when the heart contract is the systolic pressure and the pressure when the heart is at rest is the diastolic pressure. Blood pressure is measured in unit of millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). Although blood pressure levels vary with age, the normal blood pressure levels for a healthy person are around 120/80mm Hg, 120 being the systolic and 80 the diastolic pressure.

The blood pressure increases with exertion. However, if under normal conditions, they get over certain limit fixed by the standards of human body and blood pressure sustainability of human body, the person is said to be in the threat zone of high blood pressure, also called hypertension. High blood pressure can lead to coronary heart diseases and even stroke, especially when it is mixed with other serious factors. High blood pressure can pose a serious threat of death to the person who is suffering from it especially because it usually goes ignored in most number of patients until the time it strikes its dangerous final blow.

Potential Patients

High blood pressure is experienced by about a third of the United States population, and is a condition common to adults who reach above the age of 20, as stated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2002.

High blood pressure can affect both children and adult it’s victims but it is very common in middle aged persons. Aged people, obese people, people who drink heavily and women taking birth control pills are more prone to HBP. This disease may also be inherent in some families and those with such backgrounds are more likely to get affected with this. However, there are also some people with strong family history of blood pressure who never have it in their entire life. Blood pressure is also associated with some other diseases and the patients suffering from such diseases are more likely to be affected by hypertension, for instance patients of diabetes, gout and kidney diseases can have high blood pressure.

Causes

What are the contributing reasons that cause high blood pressure in a person’s body? First and foremost, diet is a prime consideration. If an excessive amount of unsaturated fat and cholesterol are taken in, the body is unable to burn them for energy as efficiently as it should. These lipids end up being deposited into the walls of the blood vessels, impeding blood flow and causing a rise in blood pressure.

In 90 to 95 percent of high blood pressure cases, the cause is unknown. Actually one can have high blood pressure without knowing that he has it. That is why it is called a silent killer and is so dangerous that it creeps up in one’s body without giving any indication or any alarm.
When the cause of high blood pressure is unknown it is called a primary or essential hypertension and is very dangerous because it goes undetected many times and poses a potential threat to the life of the person suffering from it. When the cause is known it is called as the secondary hypertension. Secondary hypertension may occur due to many reasons, which can vary in their nature.

What happens when a person’s blood pressure shoots up? This presents serious risks to the heart, as it has to work extra hard in order to keep blood flowing. However, it is unable to do so because of cholesterol blockage in major blood vessels. A large number of persons who have this condition, are not aware of having it, let alone the possible health risks that can follow. Aside from heart failure, a person with high blood pressure can become afflicted with kidney disease.

Cure

How can high blood pressure be managed? In order to monitor this condition, regular doctor visits are necessary. There are also home kits that help measure blood pressure effectively. You can prevent yourself from high blood pressure by staying active and watching what you eat. Have a regular exercise routine that you can easily follow. Avoid drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, and try not to smoke cigarettes. Because diabetics are also likely to have high blood pressure, they should maintain their medications and treatments. Although there are already a lot of prescription medicines that can help alleviate the condition, keeping healthy is the best solution.

It is possible to avoid the high blood pressure by having continuous checkups and doing as directed by the doctor. A good balance in the diet can also give a sustained level of blood pressure. If it is due to any other complex problem then it is to be fixed by the advice of the doctor but it is very important to keep in touch with the condition of blood pressure in the body as it has become very common nowadays.