How to recognize the symptoms of hypertension and avoid dangerous complications?

Hypertension is one of the most common heart pathologies, which is currently diagnosed in every third inhabitant of our planet over the age of 45.In recent years, the disease has become significantly younger, and now quite often among the number of patients with hypertension, many young people with high blood pressure can be seen.The main danger of the pathological condition lies in its complications.Hypertension can lead to heart attack and stroke, cause the rupture of aneurysms of large vessels, provoke the development of severe damage to kidney function and a sharp deterioration in the quality of vision.

A person's blood pressure has an upper, cardiac or systolic value, as well as a diastolic pressure or its lower, renal level.According to WHO standards, the norm for these indicators should be no more than 139/89 mmHg.Art., otherwise it is accepted to talk about hypertension.Early diagnosis and timely treatment of hypertension is a person's chance to prevent the occurrence of pathological changes in many internal organs, which will allow him to maintain his health and enjoy a full life for many years.

Reasons

Unfortunately, modern medicine has not yet been able to fully unravel all the possible causes of hypertension, but most of them are known to doctors.Only an experienced specialist can determine which factor led to the development of the disease, who in the diagnostic process uses not only his knowledge, but also the results of numerous studies confirming or refuting the presence of signs of hypertension in a person.

The main cause of an increase in blood pressure is a violation of the activity of the sympathetic-adrenal system of a person, i.e.constant irritation of the center responsible for the narrowing of blood vessels in the brain.

This can happen under the influence of multiple exo- and endogenous factors that contribute to sudden vasospasm.

Symptoms of hypertension can appear in people with so-called exogenous risk factors for the development of the pathological condition:

• frequent stress and strong nervous tension;
• poor nutrition;
• sedentary lifestyle;
• long working hours, night work;
• regular consumption of large amounts of strong alcoholic beverages and smoking;
• medicines;
• intense sports activities.

Among the endogenous factors in the foreground are age and poor heredity, when the disease can be transmitted from parent to child.The development of hypertension is also promoted by:

1. vascular damage from atherosclerosis;
2. obesity;
3. metabolic diseases, in particular diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism;
4. kidney diseases;
5. increased levels of calcium and sodium in the blood;
6. hormonal changes, which are the most common cause of high blood pressure in women during pregnancy and menopause.

Classification

Currently, there is more than one classification of hypertension.The disease is usually distinguished by the nature of its course, the presence of complications, the causes of development, pressure indicators and much more.

Modern cardiologists distinguish several degrees of hypertension (depending on the indicators of high blood pressure):

• 1st degree - the pressure rises to 159-140/99-90 mm Hg.Art.;
• 2 degree - on the needles of a mechanical tonometer, the indicator is diagnosed as 179-160/109-100 mm Hg.Art.;
• Grade 3 - constant or periodic increase in pressure above 180/110 mm Hg.Art.

According to the generally accepted WHO classification, there are the following stages of the disease:

• Stage 1 - transient increase in pressure without damage to target organs;
• Stage 2 - presence of signs of damage to internal organs, among which the main target is the heart, blood vessels, eye structures, brain and kidneys;
• Stage 3 - a steady increase in blood pressure against the background of the development of complications, from the manifestations of which a person can die.

Hypertensive disease has its own types of course, including:

1. benign type or indolent variant of hypertension, when the symptoms of the pathology develop very slowly, over decades, and the risk of complications is estimated to be minimal;
2. a malignant disease in which sudden jumps in pressure, damage to target organs and frequent hypertensive crises are registered (this variant of the disease is difficult to treat with drugs).

Symptoms

In the initial stages of its development, the disease is practically asymptomatic, which makes its early detection difficult.In such patients, high blood pressure may be discovered incidentally during a medical examination or during a routine clinic examination.

A more complex type of hypertension is characterized by a number of signs that significantly worsen a person's quality of life and are the reason for his referral to specialists.The main symptom of the disease is an increase in blood pressure above 140/90 mm Hg.Art.This condition provokes the development of a headache, which is the result of a reflex narrowing of the blood vessels of the brain.As a rule, people prone to hypertension complain of the onset of pain in the back of the head and temples, which has a pulsating character, characterized by its severity and sudden development.Such pain and throbbing do not disappear after taking analgesics.

Often, patients with hypertension experience dizziness on their own, which can occur after performing simple work.The symptom is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting, as well as general malaise due to increased intracranial pressure.Constriction of the vessels of the hearing aid causes tinnitus, when a person feels that his ears are very blocked and he practically loses the ability to perceive normally the sounds of his surroundings.

Violation of coronary blood flow leads to the development of myocardial ischemia.Such patients develop shortness of breath and chest pain, which can be easily corrected with nitrates.At that time, the organ works in an enhanced mode to be able to push blood into the narrowed main vessels.Each attack of angina pectoris is accompanied by a rapid pulse, pronounced palpitations and the risk of the occurrence of such a great complication of a pathological condition as a myocardial infarction.

In hypertension, the dysfunction of the eyes is determined by a sharp deterioration of vision and the development of hypertensive angiopathy of the retinal vessels.The pathological process also covers the bottom of the eye, which swells and presses on the optic nerve.At this time, one notices "goosebumps" in front of one's eyes, darkened circles and the like.

Complications of high blood pressure symptoms in women most often occur during menopause, when menopause occurs.During this period, hormonal changes occur in the body of the fairer sex, disrupting the production of biologically active substances that control normal blood pressure levels.This is why hypertension is the most common consequence of menopause in women.

Complications

HD is one of the insidious diseases that are slowly progressive and very often diagnosed at the stage of the appearance of the first complications of the pathological process.With a constant increase in blood pressure, dystrophic and sclerotic changes occur in the target organs, which leads to severe functional disorders.First of all, the kidneys, brain, heart, visual analyzer and blood vessels are affected by arterial hypertension.

There are several risk factors that influence the rate of development of hypertension complications and their severity:

• bad habits, especially smoking;
• sedentary lifestyle and increased body mass index;
• increased blood cholesterol and hyperglycemia;
• frequent stress;
• deficiency of potassium and magnesium in the body;
• age-related changes;
• hereditary predisposition.

In hypertensive disease, the heart is forced to work under conditions of increased stress, which is associated with the need to push blood into narrowed vessels.Over time, the myocardial wall thickens and a person experiences hypertrophy of the left ventricle and oxygen starvation of the heart muscle.

On the heart side, there are several types of complications of hypertension:

1. ischemic disease;
2. angina pectoris;
3. atherosclerosis of coronary vessels;
4. acute form of heart failure in the form of myocardial infarction;
5. chronic heart failure.

The high level of blood pressure provokes the appearance of brain disorders in a person, which in practice manifest as severe dizziness, headache, tinnitus, memory loss, etc.There are several options for complex cerebral complications of hypertension:

• encephalopathy with vestibular disorders;
• ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke;
• cognitive impairment of brain activity.

As you know, the kidneys control the amount of water and salt in the body.But when blood pressure rises, they can fully perform their main work.This contributes to a number of complications, including:

1. kidney failure;
2. dysfunction of filtration and fluid secretion;
3. nephrosclerosis.

Such disorders lead to the development of a number of symptoms in hypertensive patients that indicate kidney pathology.The sick person begins to complain of general weakness, malaise, swelling and unexplained nausea.

Eye damage is manifested by the appearance of retinal hemorrhages, swelling of the optic nerve head, and progressive loss of vision.On the part of the peripheral vessels in arterial hypertension, the most dangerous complication is the dissection of their walls, in particular the well-known aortic aneurysm, which forms and proceeds asymptomatically, often causing sudden death.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of hypertension with the establishment of the stage and degree of development of the disease is an important step towards prescribing adequate treatment of the pathological condition.Therefore, when the first signs of hypertensive disease appear, you should immediately contact a medical institution to find out the causes of high blood pressure and methods of its correction.

The set of diagnostic measures for suspected hypertension includes a number of laboratory and instrumental studies, including:

• laboratory blood test to determine the level of potassium and magnesium, creatinine, bad cholesterol, glucose, etc.;
• biochemical examination of urine with determination of the amount of protein;
• electrocardiography (ECG);
• ultrasound examination of the heart;
• Doppler flowmetry;
• fundus examination.

The diagnostic procedure for hypertension, which allows us to determine the degree of damage, consists of two stages:

1. the first stage is to determine the clinical manifestations of the disease from the words of the hypertensive patient and obtain the results of additional studies;
2. the second stage is a special examination that allows you to determine the exact extent of the disease and the presence of its complications in the patient using magnetic resonance therapy (MRI) or X-ray examination.

Daily monitoring of blood pressure allows you to get an accurate picture of the course of the disease.Thanks to it, you can establish the range of pressure fluctuations throughout the day and determine its average value, which will characterize the degree of hypertension.The main disadvantage of such research is its high cost.

Treatment

Treatment of exacerbations of hypertension should be carried out in a cardiology hospital, where it is possible to constantly monitor blood pressure levels.In addition, if necessary, the doctor can change the patient's treatment plan and prescribe more effective drugs in each specific clinical case.

Treatment of the disease begins with the appointment of a special diet that strictly limits table salt, fatty and fried foods, as well as offal, smoked meat and flour products.Nutrition for patients with hypertension is aimed at improving the general condition, preventing the development of edema, normalizing weight, and the like.

According to the new European recommendations, the treatment of hypertension must be complex and necessarily include a number of drugs whose action is aimed at reducing blood pressure and eliminating the risks of transforming the disease into a malignant variant of the course or developing complications of the pathological condition.Among the most used groups of drugs for hypertension are:

• alpha-blockers;
• ganglion blockers;
• ACE inhibitors;
• beta blockers;
• calcium channel blockers;
• diuretics.

The doctor pays special attention to the prescription of diuretics.The fact is that not every diuretic is safe for the body of a patient with hypertension due to its properties to extract potassium.Therefore, taking such drugs should be combined with the use of potassium supplements under the control of the biochemical composition of the blood.In addition, diuretics not only reduce blood pressure, but also eliminate tissue swelling by removing excess sodium.

Self-medication of hypertension is strictly prohibited.

It is also not recommended to use traditional antihypertensive drugs without the approval of such use by your doctor.Prohibited actions, as the main contraindication, can provoke an urgent hypertensive crisis and the need to immediately place the patient in a specialized hospital in order to determine the causes of complications and decide on further tactics for their elimination.

Prevention

To prevent hypertension, it is necessary to undergo a set of measures aimed at timely identification and elimination of the risks of developing a pathological condition, as well as stabilization of already high blood pressure.In order to prevent the appearance of the first signs of the disease, a person should normalize his lifestyle, give up bad habits and salt consumption, increase his physical activity, as well as lose weight.Particular attention should be paid to the health of potential patients whose risk of developing hypertension is hereditary.This category of people should always have a pressure measuring device at hand to monitor its condition.

Blood pressure problems can be prevented by:

1. lead an active lifestyle (physical therapy, fitness, massage, walks in the fresh air, skiing, swimming in the pool) and regularly train in the gym;
2. give up junk food, smoking and drinking alcohol;
3. reducing salt intake to 3-4 g per day;
4. forbid yourself to eat foods with a high content of animal fats, preservatives and cholesterol;
5. maintain a clear daily routine and practice adequate sleep;
6. prevents the appearance of excess fat accumulations that provoke obesity;
7. prevention of stressful situations;
8. regularly undergo preventive examinations with a cardiologist and take the necessary tests;
9. When the first signs of high blood pressure appear, seek medical help immediately.

People who have inherited a tendency to hypertension should take care of their health, exercise and undergo regular check-ups.The ready diagnosis of hypertension includes clinical observation of patients and, if necessary, referral to a disability determination committee.