In most cases, there are no actual signs of hypertension, also known as high blood pressure. People may go many years without realizing they suffer from the problem, which is one of the things that makes it so dangerous. Individuals generally go to the doctor one day, and they discover that their blood pressure is too high, and after that, the doctor will order further testing. Every once in a while, a person might experience light-headedness before receiving a diagnosis of high blood pressure. Some people also have problems with nosebleeds or headaches, but these signs of hypertension are considered very uncommon.
Hypertension becomes more dangerous the longer a person has it without treatment. The disorder puts a person at a higher risk of many severe problems, including stroke and heart attack. It’s also a strain on several internal organs. The fact that signs of hypertension are so rare means that people will suffer with it for a longer period of time without seeking treatment, and this increases the risk of serious complications. If a person feels he has a high risk of hypertension, it is usually wise to get yearly checkups, and a few lifestyle changes to reduce the risk might also be a good idea.
Treatment of hypertension varies quite significantly depending on the patient. A wide variety of drugs can help deal with hypertension, but they don’t work for everybody, and some people may have adverse reactions to different drugs. Once a person is diagnosed with hypertension, doctors will start trying different drugs on him until they find a successful combination. It’s also fairly normal for people to change drug combinations more than once as they age. After starting drug treatments, patients may not feel any different because signs of hypertension are so hard to detect.
There are a lot of possible causes for hypertension and many things that increase a person’s risk factor. For one thing, people have an increased risk of hypertension as they age, simply because their veins become firmer and they can’t expand as much, which increases pressure within the circulatory system. Smoking and obesity are also major risk factors, and many people may have a genetic predisposition to the disorder. Usually, doctors aren’t able to determine the real underlying cause of a person’s hypertension, but sometimes the hypertension is actually a side effect of some other illness. In some of those cases, treating the illness can be a part of the hypertension treatment.