What Is Hypertension?

Narrow blood vessels (also known as arteries) cause more resistance against blood flow. The narrower your arteries, the more resistance there will be, and that causes your blood pressure to rise.

Hypertension typically develops over the course of a few years. At first, it’s hard to notice any symptoms at all. But even without the presence of symptoms, hypertension can cause damage to blood vessels and organs – namely the brain, heart, eyes, and kidneys. That’s why it’s important to catch hypertension early with regular blood pressure readings. If your blood pressure is elevated, your doctor may continue to check it over the course of a few weeks to see if it stays elevated or drops back to normal levels.

Treatment for hypertension includes prescription medication and lifestyle changes. If hypertension goes untreated, it could lead to health issues like heart attack and stroke.

Symptoms of Hypertension

Many people don’t experience symptoms of hypertension for years or even decades – not until the symptoms become severe enough to be obvious. But even then, those symptoms might be attributed to other conditions.

• Symptoms of severe hypertension include:
  • Flushing
  • Blood spots in the eyes
  • Dizziness

Severe hypertension does not usually cause nosebleeds or headaches, contrary to popular belief, unless someone is in hypertensive crisis.

The best way to find out if you have hypertension is through regular blood pressure readings, and most doctors administer such tests at every appointment.

Hypertension Prevention

If you are at risk for hypertension, there are steps that you can take in order to lower your risk for contracting the condition. These steps include:

• Adding fruits and vegetables to your diet.
  • You should aim to eat more than 7 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. From there, aim to add one more serving every day for two weeks. After two weeks, add one more serving. The ultimate goal is to get 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
• Limit refined sugar.
  • Limit the amount of foods sweetened with sugars that you eat on a daily basis like flavored yogurt, cereal, and soda.
• Reduce your sodium intake.
  • Those at risk for heart disease and those living with hypertension may be advised by their doctor to limit their sodium intake between 1500mg-2300mg.
• Set weight loss goals.
  • If your doctor has recommended that you lose weight in order to reduce your risk of hypertension, create a weight loss goal that works for you – like two pounds per week. This can be achieved through a more nutritious diet and regular exercise.
• Regularly check your blood pressure.
  • This is how you can recognize hypertension early and catch the condition before it has a chance to advance.