ABSTRACT – Hypertension is also known as high blood pressure, it’s a common medical condition which can be caused...
Hypertension
Hypertension is another name for high blood pressure. It can lead to severe complications and increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and death.
Blood pressure is the force exerted by the blood against the walls of the blood vessels. The pressure depends on the work being done by the heart and the resistance of the blood vessels.
Hypertension and heart disease are global health concerns. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that the growth of the processed food industry has impacted the amount of salt in diets worldwide, and that this plays a role in hypertension.
Treatment
While blood pressure is best regulated through the diet before it reaches the stage of hypertension, there is a range of treatment options.
Lifestyle adjustments are the standard first-line treatment for hypertension.
Regular physical exercise
Current guidelines recommend that each week, people with hypertension engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic intensity exercise or 75 minutes a week of vigorous intensity exercise.
People should exercise on at least 5 days of the week. Examples of activities include walking, jogging, cycling, or swimming.
Stress reduction
Avoiding stress, or developing strategies for managing unavoidable stress, can help with blood pressure control.
Using alcohol, drugs, smoking, and unhealthy eating to cope with stress will add to hypertensive problems. These should be avoided.
Smoking can raise blood pressure. Giving up smoking reduces the risk of hypertension, heart conditions, and other health issues.
Medications
People with blood pressure higher than 130 over 80 may use medication to treat hypertension.
Drugs are usually started one at a time at a low dose. Side effects associated with antihypertensive drugs are usually minor.
Eventually, a combination of at least two antihypertensive drugs is usually required.
A range of drug types are available to help lower blood pressure, including:
diuretics, including thiazides, chlorthalidone, and indapamide
beta-blockers and alpha-blockers
calcium-channel blockers
central agonists
peripheral adrenergic inhibitor
vasodilators
angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
angiotensin receptor blockers
The choice of drug depends on the individual and any other conditions they may have.
Anyone taking antihypertensive medications should be sure to carefully read labels, especially before taking any over-the-counter (OTC) medications, such as decongestants.
These may interact with medications used to lower blood pressure.
Causes
The cause of hypertension is often not known.
Around 1 in every 20 cases of hypertension is the effect of an underlying condition or medication.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common cause of high blood pressure because the kidneys do not filter out fluid. This fluid excess leads to hypertension.