Hypertension is one of the most frequent cardiac 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, very 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 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, or lower, renal pressure.According to WHO standards, the norm for these indicators should be no more than 139/89 mmHg.Art., otherwise it is customary 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 them to maintain health and enjoy a full life for many years.
reason
Unfortunately, modern medical science has not yet managed to fully discover all the possible causes of hypertension, but most of them are known to doctors.Only an experienced specialist can identify 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 that confirm or refute the presence of signs of hypertension in a person.
The main reason for the increase in blood pressure is a violation of the activity of the human sympathetic-adrenal system, that is, the constant irritation of the center responsible for the narrowing of blood vessels in the brain.
This can occur under the influence of many exogenous 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 severe nervous tension;
- poor nutrition;
- sedentary lifestyle;
- long working hours, night shift work;
- regular consumption of large amounts of strong alcoholic beverages and smoking;
- drugs;
- intense sports activities.
Among the endogenous factors, age and poor heredity stand out, when the disease can be transmitted from parents to children.The development of hypertension is also promoted by:
- damage to blood vessels from atherosclerosis;
- obesity;
- metabolic diseases, in particular diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism;
- kidney diseases;
- increased levels of calcium and sodium in the blood;
- hormonal changes, which are the most common cause of high blood pressure in women during pregnancy and menopause.
Distribution
Currently, there is more than one classification of hypertension.The disease is usually distinguished by the nature of its course, the presence of complications, causes of development, pressure indicators and much more.
Modern cardiologists distinguish several degrees of hypertension (depending on the indicators of high blood pressure):
- First degree - pressure rises to 159-140/99-90 mm Hg.Art.;
- The second degree - on the needles of a mechanical tonometer, the indicator is diagnosed as 179-160/109-100 mm Hg.Art.;
- Level 3 - continuous or periodic increase in pressure more than 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 the target organs;
- Stage 2 - the 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:
- 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;
- a malignant disease in which sudden increases in pressure, damage to target organs and frequent hypertensive crises are recorded (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 complicates its early detection.In such patients, high blood pressure may be discovered incidentally during a medical examination or during a routine clinic appointment.
A more complex type of hypertension is characterized by a series 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 headaches, which are the result of a reflex narrowing of blood vessels in the brain.As a rule, people prone to hypertension complain of the appearance of pain in the back of the head and in the temples, which is pulsating in nature, characterized by severity and sudden development.Such pains and throbbing do not go away after taking analgesics.
Often, patients with hypertension experience solo dizziness, which can occur after performing a simple task.The symptom is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting, as well as general malaise due to increased intracranial pressure.The narrowing of the vessels of the hearing aid causes tinnitus, when a person feels that his ears are very blocked and practically loses the ability to normally perceive 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 the help of nitrates.At this time, the organ works in an improved way to be able to push a pool of blood into the narrowed main vessels.Each attack of angina is accompanied by a rapid pulse, pronounced palpitations and the risk of such a terrible complication of a pathological condition as myocardial infarction.
In case of hypertension, eye dysfunction is determined by a sharp deterioration of vision and the development of hypertensive angiopathy of retinal vessels.The pathological process also includes the fundus of the eye, which swells and compresses the optic nerve.At this time, the person notices "lumps" in front of his eyes, dark circles and the like.
Complications of high blood pressure symptoms in women occur more often during menopause, when menopause occurs.During this period, hormonal changes occur in the body of the fairer sex, interrupting 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 progresses slowly and is often diagnosed already at the stage of the appearance of the first complications of the pathological process.With a continuous increase in blood pressure, dystrophic and sclerotic changes occur in the target organs, leading to severe functional impairment.First of all, the kidneys, brain, heart, visual analyzer and blood vessels are affected by arterial hypertension.
There are several risk factors that affect the rate of development of complications in hypertension and their severity:
- bad habits, especially smoking;
- sedentary lifestyle and increased body mass index;
- elevated blood cholesterol and hyperglycemia;
- frequent stress;
- lack of potassium and magnesium in the body;
- age-related changes;
- hereditary predisposition.
With hypertensive disease, the heart is forced to work under conditions of increased stress, which is accompanied by the need to push blood into narrowed vessels.Over time, the myocardial wall thickens and a person experiences left ventricular hypertrophy and oxygen starvation of the heart muscle.
From the side of the heart, there are several types of complications of hypertension:
- ischemic disease;
- angina pectoris;
- atherosclerosis of coronary vessels;
- acute form of heart failure in the form of myocardial infarction;
- 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, headaches, 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:
- kidney failure;
- dysfunction of filtration and fluid secretion;
- nephrosclerosis.
Such disorders lead to the development of a series of symptoms in hypertensive patients that indicate kidney pathology.A sick person begins to complain of general weakness, malaise, swelling and vomiting for no reason.
Eye damage is manifested by the appearance of hemorrhages in the retina, swelling of the optic nerve head and progressive loss of vision.From the side of the peripheral vessels in arterial hypertension, the most dangerous complication is the dissection of their walls, in particular the well-known aneurysm of the aorta, which is formed and is asymptomatic, often causing sudden death.
Diagnosing
The diagnosis of hypertension by determining the stage and rate of development of the disease is an important step towards prescribing adequate treatment for the pathological condition.That is why, when the first signs of a hypertensive disease appear, you should immediately contact a medical institution to find out the causes of high blood pressure and methods for its correction.
The set of diagnostic measures for suspected hypertension includes a number of laboratory and instrumental studies, including:
- blood laboratory analysis to determine the level of potassium and magnesium, creatinine, bad cholesterol, glucose, etc.;
- biochemical study of urine with the determination of the amount of proteins;
- 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:
- The first stage is determining the clinical manifestations of the disease from the words of the patient with hypertension and obtaining the results of additional studies;
- the second stage is a special study 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 set the range of pressure fluctuations throughout the day and determine its average, which will characterize the degree of hypertension.The main disadvantage of such a study is its high cost.
Treatment
Treatment of exacerbations of hypertension should be done in a cardiology hospital, where it is possible to continuously 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, which 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 comprehensive and necessarily include a series of drugs whose action is aimed at lowering blood pressure and eliminating the risks of the disease turning into a malignant version of its course or the development of 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 potassium draining properties.This is why 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 lower 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 for the immediate placement of the patient in a specialized hospital to determine the causes of complications and decide on further tactics for their elimination.
Preventing
To prevent hypertension, it is necessary to undergo a series 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.To prevent the appearance of the first signs of the disease, a person must normalize his lifestyle, give up bad habits and salt consumption, increase his physical activity and also lose excess weight.Special 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 device for measuring pressure, with which they can monitor its condition.
Blood pressure problems can be prevented by:
- lead an active lifestyle (physical therapy, gym, massage, walks in the fresh air, skiing, swimming in the pool) and train regularly in the gym;
- give up junk food, smoking and drinking alcohol;
- reduce salt intake to 3-4 g per day;
- stop yourself from eating foods rich in animal fats, preservatives and cholesterol;
- keep a clear daily routine and practice adequate sleep;
- preventing the appearance of excessive fat deposits, which provoke obesity;
- prevention of stressful situations;
- regularly undergo preventive examinations with a cardiologist and take the necessary tests;
- When the first signs of increased blood pressure appear, seek medical help immediately.
People who have inherited the tendency to hypertension should be attentive to their health, exercise and undergo regular examinations.A ready diagnosis of hypertension includes clinical observation of patients and, if necessary, referral to a commission to determine disability.