What is High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)?
High blood pressure is also known as hypertension. It happens when the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels is too high.
A blood pressure measurement is recorded as systolic blood pressure (the pressure when the heart contracts), and the diastolic blood pressure (the pressure when the heart is resting between beats).
High blood pressure is diagnosed when either or both of these values are persistently raised on more than one occasion, when measured.
Monitor your Blood Pressure
Monitoring blood pressure (BP) is crucial because high blood pressure (hypertension) often has no symptoms but silently damages your body, significantly raising your risk for issues like heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, and vision loss .
Self measured blood pressure monitoring (SMBPM) allows for early detection, effective management through lifestyle changes or medication, and provide motivation to maintain healthier habits, preventing serious complications by giving you and your doctor time to act.
Dangers of untreated and undiagnosed Hypertension
High blood pressure remains untreated when it is not lowered to normal physiologic levels. This includes individuals unaware of having high blood pressure and those receiving suboptimal treatment. If not detected and controlled, high blood pressure can lead to:
- Heart attack. Stroke.
- Heart failure.
- Kidney disease or failure.
- Vision loss. Sexual dysfunction.
- Heart disease.
- Atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in the arteries).