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Hypertension
Hypertension is high blood pressure, and the immediate cause is when either small blood vessels become narrower, or artery walls lose their elasticity and become more rigid
When your doctor or nurse measures your blood pressure they are looking for a reading that is below 130/85. The first figure (systolic) is a measure of the pressure when your heart muscle is contracting and pumping blood, the second figure (diastolic) is the pressure between heart beats when the heart is resting and filling with blood
If you blood pressure reading is above 130/85 then you are at increased the risk of developing heart disease (angina, heart attacks, heart failure), stroke, dementia, and kidney damage
Because your blood pressure varies throughout the day your doctor is likely to want to take your blood pressure on several different occasions, and may arrange for you to have your blood pressure monitored with a portable machine for 24 hours, before a formal diagnosis of hypertension is made
Your doctor is also likely to test your urine and blood to check that the high blood pressure is not caused by another problem, and may arrange for an ECG reading to check your heart
There are a number of treatment options apart from medicine, these include lifestyle changes if your doctor believes these are contributing to the problem:
- stop smoking
- take regular exercise
- eat healthily
- reduce alcohol intake
- maintain an ideal weight
If you are prescribed medication it is likely that you will need to be on it for the rest of your life, but sometimes if patients have made significant lifestyle changes, and had had normal blood pressure readings for at least 3 years, it is possible to stop the medication (you would still need regular blood pressure checks in the future in case it started to rise again)
High blood pressure is more common in people:
- from African-Caribbean origin
- from the Indian sub-continent
- with a family history of high blood pressure
- with certain lifestyle factors (overweight, eat too much salt, don't eat fruit and vegetables, don't exercise, drink alcohol to excess)
Source: LSMP
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