High blood pressure (hypertension) plays a significant factor in heart disease. Learn about the various high blood pressure risks and threats.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. – and high blood pressure plays a major role in increasing its risk. When left uncontrolled, high blood pressure can do serious damage to your body over time. As the pressure builds, this condition can cause damage to your blood vessels and arteries.
As a result, hypertension can lead to a heart attack, stroke, heart failure, kidney disease, vision loss, angina, and more. Moreover, hypertension can also cause microvascular disease (MVD) and angina (or chest pain) is a common symptom.
In addition to leading to all of these conditions, the damage in your blood vessels makes it easy for LDL cholesterol to accumulate in your artery walls. The combination of high blood pressure and high cholesterol is detrimental to your health as it hurts the circulatory system’s efficiency. In other words, having high blood pressure can increase the risk of developing life-threatening conditions.
Management and Prevention
The first step in managing your condition is knowing if you have it, so check your blood pressure and know your numbers. Secondly, learn about what increases the risk of developing hypertension (e.g.: family history, eating habits, age, etc.).
Finally, take the necessary steps to change your life and decrease the risk of developing hypertension. While some factors are out of your control, there are plenty of factors that you can manage to improve your health.
Additional Risks
There are different stages in hypertension, and a hypertensive crisis (higher than 180/120 mm Hg) is the most severe. If your numbers fall under this category, wait five minutes and measure your blood pressure again.
However, if they still remain high, it’s time to call your doctor immediately. If you experience additional symptoms such as nausea and fainting, you should call 911 or go to the hospital.
Be aware of other conditions such as metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of risk factors that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and more. Metabolic syndrome (or insulin resistance syndrome) is diagnosed when you have three or more of the following risk factors:
- High blood glucose (sugar)
- Low HDL (good) cholesterol levels in the blood
- High triglyceride levels in the blood
- Large waist circumference
- High blood pressure
Improving High Blood Pressure
Taking care of your blood pressure is an essential part of improving your overall heart health. While hypertension is a leading factor in heart disease, there are things you can do to lower your blood pressure.
For example, you can exercise regularly, eat low-sodium diets, and take supplements like HeartBeet Complete. It contains a combination of ingredients that all work together to boost your circulation, energy levels, and more. Try HeartBeet Complete along with healthy lifestyle habits to decrease your blood pressure and promote your heart health.
