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If you don’t get your blood pressure measured regularly, it’s possible that your reading is high, and that could damage your heart and other blood vessels. Keep reading to learn more about how high blood pressure can be a “silent killer.”
Doctors call high blood pressure a “silent disease” because it produces few-to-no symptoms before you hit a crisis. That’s why it’s so important to get your blood pressure checked regularly. That way you’ll know if there’s a problem when it’s in its early stages, is easier to treat, and is easier to prevent complications.
About half of American adults have high blood pressure, but because it’s silent, 1 in 3 Americans who have it don’t even know it.
At Northwest Houston Heart Center, cardiologists Dr. A. Adnan Aslam and Dr. Roy Norman diagnose and treat hypertension (high blood pressure) at our four Texas locations. We measure your blood pressure every time you come into the office so we can determine if it’s normal or if it’s elevated and may cause a serious problem.
If you don’t get your pressure measured regularly, or if you go too long between readings, the pressure can rise, damaging your blood vessels, including your heart. Here’s what’s involved.
Defining blood pressure
Blood pressure is the force your blood exerts on the artery walls, and it’s recorded as one number over another number. The top number is called the systolic pressure, and it’s the force your blood exerts when your heart actively beats.
The bottom number is called the diastolic pressure, and it’s the force your blood exerts between beats.
A “normal” reading, measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), is below 120/80. Your blood pressure varies during the day, depending on your amount of activity, what you’ve eaten, and how much sleep you get, among other things. As long as it’s around the 120/80 mark or below, you’re fine.
Doctors consider your blood pressure to be elevated when the top number is from 120 to 129 mm Hg and the bottom number is below 80 mm Hg.
You have stage 1 hypertension when the top number is from 130 to 139 mm Hg, or the bottom number is from 80 to 89 mm Hg.
You have stage 2 hypertension when the top number reads 140 mm Hg or higher, or the bottom number reads 90 mm Hg or higher.
Anything above 150/90 is considered a hypertensive crisis and needs immediate medical attention since it puts you at risk for heart attack and stroke.
The problem of high blood pressure
When blood presses too hard against the artery walls, small bulges called aneurysms may develop. If the pressure gets high enough, these aneurysms can rupture, leading to a crisis.
Other problems that may occur is that the heart can become enlarged because it has to pump more forcefully, raising the danger of heart attack and heart failure. Blood vessels in the kidneys can become damaged, causing them to fail.
And the tiny blood vessels in the eyes are particularly sensitive to high pressure; if they become damaged, you may have vision problems, and it could even lead to blindness.
In addition, if pressure remains high, it can roughen the artery walls. This makes it easier for plaque, a sticky combination of cholesterol, fat, calcium, proteins, and cell debris, to stick to them and harden, narrowing the conduit. As a result, the heart has to pump harder to move blood.
Plaque build-up can also lead to clot development. If a clot breaks free of the wall, it can lead to heart attack or stroke.
Diagnosis and treatment of high blood pressure
Diagnosing high blood pressure is easy. It’s done by measuring the pressure with an inflatable cuff on the upper arm. As we’ve mentioned, we take your pressure reading every time you come into the office, but you can do more. At-home monitors are available at most pharmacies, and you can monitor your pressure between visits to ensure there are no problems.
Treating high blood pressure depends on a combination of lifestyle factors and medications.
Eating a Mediterranean-style diet full of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains, and limited salt, can help moderate your blood pressure readings. So can getting regular aerobic exercise, limiting stress and alcohol, and getting between seven to nine hours of sleep each night.
If you need additional help managing your pressure, there are medications that can help. Your doctor will prescribe one that’s right for you based on your health history, physical exam, and risk factors.
If you haven’t had your blood pressure checked in a while, it’s time to come into Northwest Houston Heart Center for a measurement and a once-over to ensure you and your heart remain healthy. Call us at one of our locations (Tomball, Cypress, Magnolia, and The Woodlands, Texas), or book online today. You can also text us at 832-402-9518.