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Dangers of High Blood Pressure: Important Awareness Article!!

C

Cabo Jo

Thick n Wide VIP
Jun 26, 2011
1,051
337
thanks Rider,high bp and RBC are the most important things to keep an eye on.imo
 
dr jim

dr jim

MuscleHead
Apr 7, 2014
785
168
I just read a great article and wanted to share it. So many of us have high blood pressure, and aren’t even aware of it before it’s too late. This is a very important read, imho.

High blood pressure (hypertension) can quietly damage your body for years before symptoms develop. Left uncontrolled, you may wind up with a disability, a poor quality of life or even a fatal heart attack. Fortunately, with treatment and lifestyle changes, you can control your high blood pressure to reduce your risk of life-threatening complications.
Here's a look at the complications high blood pressure can cause when it's not effectively controlled.

Damage to your arteries
Healthy arteries are flexible, strong and elastic. Their inner lining is smooth so that blood flows freely, supplying vital organs and tissues with adequate nutrients and oxygen. If you have high blood pressure, the increased pressure of blood flowing through your arteries gradually can cause a variety of problems, including:

  • Artery damage and narrowing. High blood pressure can damage the cells of your arteries' inner lining. That launches a cascade of events that make artery walls thick and stiff, a disease called arteriosclerosis (ahr-teer-e-o-skluh-ROE-sis), or hardening of the arteries. Fats from your diet enter your bloodstream, pass through the damaged cells and collect to start atherosclerosis (ath-ur-o-skluh-ROE-sis). These changes can affect arteries throughout your body, blocking blood flow to your heart, kidneys, brain, arms and legs. The damage can cause many problems, including chest pain (angina), heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, stroke, blocked arteries in your legs or arms (peripheral artery disease), eye damage, and aneurysms.
  • Aneurysm. Over time, the constant pressure of blood moving through a weakened artery can cause a section of its wall to enlarge and form a bulge (aneurysm). An aneurysm (AN-yoo-riz-um) can potentially rupture and cause life-threatening internal bleeding. Aneurysms can form in any artery throughout your body, but they're most common in the aorta, your body's largest artery.
Damage to your heart
Your heart pumps blood to your entire body. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can damage your heart in a number of ways, such as:

  • Enlarged left heart. High blood pressure forces your heart to work harder than necessary in order to pump blood to the rest of your body. This causes the left ventricle to thicken or stiffen (left ventricular hypertrophy). These changes limit the ventricle's ability to pump blood to your body. This condition increases your risk of heart attack, heart failure and sudden cardiac death.
  • Heart failure. Over time, the strain on your heart caused by high blood pressure can cause your heart muscle to weaken and work less efficiently. Eventually, your overwhelmed heart simply begins to wear out and fail. Damage from heart attacks adds to this problem.
Damage to your brain
Just like your heart, your brain depends on a nourishing blood supply to work properly and survive. But high blood pressure can cause several problems, including:

  • Stroke. A stroke occurs when part of your brain is deprived of oxygen and nutrients, causing brain cells to die. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to stroke by damaging and weakening your brain's blood vessels, causing them to narrow, rupture or leak. High blood pressure can also cause blood clots to form in the arteries leading to your brain, blocking blood flow and potentially causing a stroke.
  • Mild cognitive impairment. Mild cognitive impairment is a transition stage between the changes in understanding and memory that come with aging and the more-serious problems caused by Alzheimer's disease. Like dementia, it can result from blocked blood flow to the brain when high blood pressure damages arteries.
Sexual dysfunction

  • Although the inability to have and maintain an erection (erectile dysfunction) becomes increasingly common in men as they reach age 50, it's even more likely to occur if they have high blood pressure, too. Over time, high blood pressure damages the lining of your blood vessels and causes your arteries to harden and narrow (atherosclerosis), limiting blood flow. This means less blood is able to flow to your penis. For some men, the decreased blood flow makes it difficult to achieve and maintain erections — often referred to as erectile dysfunction. The problem is fairly common, especially among men who are not treating their high blood pressure.
  • Women may have sexual dysfunction as a side effect of high blood pressure, as well. High blood pressure can reduce blood flow to your vagina. For some women, this leads to a decrease in sexual desire or arousal, vaginal dryness, or difficulty achieving orgasm. Improving arousal and lubrication can help. Like men, women can experience anxiety and relationship issues due to sexual dysfunction.

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Excellent job Rider!

Hope you don't mind but I'd also like to add; Damage to the Kidneys. since like many end organ disease related to HTN, it's onset, course and severity are often overlooked (unless one's elevated creatinine is detected by a routine visits to your Doc)

Don't let anyone mislead you because end stage RF therapy requirers dialysis and DIALYSIS REALLY SUCKS!

Regs
Jim
 
Rider

Rider

TID Board Of Directors
Aug 27, 2010
1,670
1,061
Guys, I wanted to bump this thread back up to the top.

It's important to monitor your BP, iron and cholesterol levels, etc. I recommend donating blood often. It's good for you and the receivers!
 
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