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As you might already know, the human body is comprised of a network of tiny tubes and vessels that function as the transporters of blood. They are vastly are branched out throughout the system, almost akin to a network of roads.
When the blood travels through these vessels, it applies pressure along their walls and gives rise to what we commonly call blood pressure.
When this blood pressure that is exerted along the walls of these vessels remains elevated for an extended period of time, it gives rise to Hypertension or high blood pressure. When this happens, the heart needs to work harder which results in damage to the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart, brain, kidneys, and even the eyes.
Under normal circumstances, this is how your heart functions. The heart pumps blood into large blood vessels (called the arteries) which taper into smaller blood vessels (called the arterioles) which taper into still smaller blood vessels (called the capillaries). This blood is returned to the heart via blood vessels (known as veins).
However, sometimes what can happen is that the nerve impulses in your body can result in the constriction (narrowing) of the arteries. This makes it harder for blood to flow through them thus increasing the pressure inside and giving rise to high blood pressure. The net result is the damage that is caused to your blood vessels that supply important organs in the body such as your kidneys, your brain and the eyes in addition to your heart.
Although hypertension may begin without any visible symptoms or warning, its effects in the long run can be rather devastating.
The reason why your body won't detect the presence of hypertension immediately is because important organs such the heart, brain and the kidneys have been built to tolerate increased levels of blood pressure for a long time before exhibiting symptoms of high blood pressure.
But lack of symptoms doesn't mean that there isn't any damage done. During the initial stages the damage caused by hypertension is slow and gradual. A list of organs that can get affected with high blood pressure includes Diagram
As hypertension builds it creates an increased load on your heart, which now has to work overtime and work against this high pressure). If hypertension isn't adequately dealt with once it's been detected, the continued pressure on the walls of the arteries can lead to damage to the arteries and over a period of time be a principal cause of heart attacks and heart failure.
Over a prolonged period of time, this hypertension and the corresponding damage it causes to blood vessels can lead to kidney failure, brain stroke and in extreme cases even blindness.
Over a course of time, hypertension is likely to affect your overall quality of life by
altering the functioning of most of the organs in your body. Here's a list of organs that are
most likely to be affected by high blood pressure:
Heart: Persistent high blood pressure can result in a number of maldevelopments in the heart. The flow of blood in blood vessels supplying your heart (coronary vessels) is likely to get affected causing chest pain (angina) or in extreme cases, a heart attack. As a result of the extra work that needs to be put in to pump blood, the left side of the heart can get enlarged, thus causing the muscles of that side to become stiff (left ventricular hypertrophy). Over a period of time what will happen is that, the capacity of the heart to supply blood will get reduced thus resulting in heart failure.
Blood vessels: Over a while, high blood pressure can cause damage to the inner lining of the blood vessels and cause the arteries to become stiff (arteriosclerosis). If your diet contains too high an amount of fat, it will start collect at the damaged cells of the blood vessels and give rise to a condition called atherosclerosis. The net result: An obstruction of blood flow to blood vessels and various parts of your body.
Brain: One of the main organs that can be affected by hypertension is your brain. When there is significant damage to the blood vessels, it can result in weakness and narrowing of arteries thus causing either the rupture of these arteries or cause clots and blockage. While temporary damage can manifest itself as a brief obstruction of blood flow to the brain, known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA) the net result can be a brain stroke.
Kidneys: Persistent high blood pressure can cause damage to the blood vessels supplying the kidneys or to a tuft of blood vessels within the kidneys (glomeruli). The result is inability of the kidney to filter the waste, leading to kidney failure.
Eyes: High blood pressure can cause damage to the blood vessels supplying the retina, with the blood vessels leaking or becoming blocked, resulting in retinopathy. The net result is bleeding in the eyes, blurring of vision and sometimes, even complete loss of vision
Hypertension-"The silent Killer"
It's not always easy to tell you have hypertension. It can come without warning & sometimes its causes remain unknown. However it's important to be aware of a few factors which could signal possible development of hypertension. Some of these are:
Age of an individual: Previously, high blood pressure was associated with old age. However, in today's fast paced world, it will primarily be your lifestyle that determines your susceptibility to hypertension.
Gender of an individual: Although statistics state that hypertension is predominant in men, with an increase in age, both genders are equally susceptible.
History of high blood pressure in family: If your family has a history of high blood pressure, chances of you developing the same are higher.
Activity: If you're scoring low on the physical activity scale, your chances of increased blood pressure will be higher.
Diet: Make sure that the amount of salt in your food is carefully moderated. Science has found a link between high salt intake and hypertension, as it has with foods that contain saturated fats.
Problems to the kidney: Take good care of your kidneys, they play an overall part in controlling blood pressure. If you suffer from other problems associated with kidneys (such as kidney failure and the like) chances are that they will affect your blood pressure readings.
So, as you must have realized, some causes of blood pressure can be altered while the others can't. These causes of high blood pressure can be divided into changeable and non-changeable causes.
In about 5-10% of cases, high blood pressure may have an initiating cause to it,
this type of hypertension being referred to as secondary hypertension.
Some causes of secondary hypertension may include:
How much do you really know about hypertension? Here are some quick facts to up your hypertension knowledge base.
Research shows that people who are unable to get enough sleep are at a risk of developing high blood pressure. Recent reports have connecting this (inadequate sleep) as being one of the deciding factors of high blood pressure.
Your intake dairy products, such as low-fat milk, can decrease your risk of high blood pressure in older age, reports a study. It also suggested that popular to contrary belief, there was no direct correlation between the intake of dairy products with higher fat contents (such as hard cheese) and high blood pressure. Thus, it is a safe to say that you begin to include these foods in your diet.
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