Is Essential Hypertension A Danger to Your Health?



Posted: Sunday, July 01, 2007

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http://www.lpvitamins.com

Define Essential Hypertension
If your blood pressure reading is 140/90, you have high blood pressure (essential hypertension). Blood pressure measurements are read as two numbers. The higher number is called the systolic pressure. The lower number is called the diastolic pressure. Normal systolic pressure is 120 or less, and normal diastolic blood pressure is 80 or less. People with systolic blood pressures between 120 and 139, or diastolic pressures of 80 to 89 are considered "pre-hypertensive" and need medical monitoring and lifestyle changes. High blood pressure puts stress on the heart, lungs, brain, kidneys, and blood vessels. Over time, high blood pressure can damage these organs and tissues.

What Are The Causes?
By definition, the cause of essential hypertension is not known, but medical monitoring and lifestyle changes can help prevent it.

What Are the Risk Factors?
A risk factor is something that increases your chance of getting a disease or condition. Risk factors for high blood pressure include:

What Will The Symptoms Be?
High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Many people have high blood pressure and don’t even suspect it. Your organs and tissues can be damaged by high blood pressure without your feeling any symptoms. Blood pressure must reach extreme levels before symptoms can be noticed. Occasionally, people with very high blood pressure may experience the following symptoms:

Is There A Diagnosis?
High blood pressure is often diagnosed during a visit to the doctor. Blood pressure is measured using the familiar cuff around the arm and a device called a sphygmomanometer. If your blood pressure reading is high, you'll be asked to come back for repeat blood pressure checks. If you have two or more visits with readings over 140/90, you will be diagnosed with high blood pressure. Tests to make sure your high blood pressure is not caused by another medical condition and that it has not already caused complications include:

How Is High Blood Pressure Treated?
High blood pressure can be treated by changing habits of diet, exersize, life style and medication. A. Lifestyle Changes
  1. Lose weight if necessary. Your health care provider can recommend a safe weight loss plan and a reasonable target weight.
  2. Begin a safe exercise program based on the advice of your health care provider. In addition, try to add physical activity into your daily life.
  3. Eat a low-fat, low-sodium, high-fiber diet, rich in fruits and vegetables, as recommended by your health care provider. If you smoke, quit. There are additional health risks associated with smoking.
  4. Drink alcohol in moderation. Moderate alcohol intake is no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women.
  5. Consider counseling, stress reduction exercises, and meditation to decrease the stress in your life.
B. Medications to lower blood pressure include:
  1. Diuretics 
  2. Beta blockers 
  3. Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) 
  4. Calcium channel blockers 
  5. Alpha blockers 
  6. Alpha-beta blockers 
  7. Nervous system inhibitors 
  8. Vasodilators
Note: Untreated high blood pressure can lead to: Tom Nuckels is owner of the LpVitamins web site and health article author. Read more articles like this one at his web site. To see what liquid vitamins can do for you visit http://www.lpvitamins.com

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Myron D. from Michigan 3 years 176 days ago.
Just a thought about the dangers of generalization. You list race as a risk factor: Black
 
To what extent can this possibly apply when there are zero instances of racial "purity"? For example, how do you apply this rationale for a person, like me, whose maternal and paternal grandfathers were "White/Irish" and a father was "Black" but with genetic linkages to Blackfeet indigenous peoples? And, bi-raciality or even multi-raciality is far more common than thought.
 
You're also assuming that Black population representation numbers as presented by the Census are accurate. By their own admission and corroborated by numerous analyses of Census accuracy, they are not (undercount). In this vein, the lack of a state of racial purity -- especially in the United States given its history -- and questionable percentage of population data, renders such assumptions problematic. Moreover, to quote in essence a 20 year study completed in 2000 on race-based diagnostic procedure and treatment methodologies, "Medical diagnoses and treatments deriving therefrom is not only bad medicine, but dangerous medicine" shows how such assumptions by too many in the medical community are at least disingenuous, and at worse fatal to the patient.
 
What is important is environment, the sociological interaction/status subset of environment, access to preventive health care and diet. Yes, we inherit genetic traits, but, one can only conclude there is one race... The Human Race... Myron D
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