What Are The Complications Of High Blood Pressure?

The dangerous thing about high blood pressure is that it has no discernable symptoms and that the condition can lead to fatal consequences eventually. High blood pressure happens when the blood vessels become rigid and become constricted creating more pressure on the heart to pump blood more vigorously throughout the body. The pumping pressure of the heart is measured in a couple of numbers: the systolic and diastolic. When high blood pressure or hypertension is not properly controlled, it can lead to serious complications like organ damage and blood vessel damage over time.

Kidney Disease
When blood vessels in the kidney are damaged because of hypertension, the kidney loses its ability to properly dispose of excess fluid and wastes from the body. Too much fluid in the body causes the blood pressure to even more rise up exacerbating the condition further. The common way to diagnose kidney damage is to perform urinalysis since the condition does not have any visible symptoms. Without proper diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease brought about by hypertension, then the disease may reach the point where the only treatment solutions are kidney transplant or dialysis.

Stroke
Also called a cerebrovascular accident, a stroke happens when enough blood does not reach the brain to nourish brain tissues and areas due to the impaired vessels that carry blood to the brain. The damaged blood vessels or blood clots make it impossible for the blood to reach some parts of the brain causing stroke and resulting in motor and sensory dysfunctions. These can include irreversible weakness or permanent paralysis in certain parts of the body as well as memory, vision and speech problems that are also irreversible. To prevent or mitigate the severity of these problems, early diagnosis and remedy or rehabilitation should be implemented.

Coronary Artery Disease
The function of the coronary arteries is to convey oxygen-filled blood coming from the lungs to the heart. The heart then pumps the oxygenated blood to all parts of the body. When hypertension occurs and is not controlled, a substance made up of calcium and fatty elements accumulates in the arterial wall and causes damages to the arteries. The substances impede blood flow and cause chest pain which is medically called angina. Less blood flow to the heart is also experienced malnourishing the heart and weakening it. The heart weakens and is unable to pump enough blood to the extremities and the lungs causing edema to develop there. Symptoms of edema swelling and shortness of breath is experienced as well as arrhythmia and irregular heart beats. One type of arrhythmia called atrial fibrillation can result in heart attack. An atrial fibrillation happens when blood clots or pools accumulate in the heart’s left atrium. These clots can become large enough that they completely shut off the flow of blood in specific regions of the heart leading to a heart attack.

Diabetes
High blood pressure can be responsible for the development or aggravation of diabetes. Diabetes, in turn heightens the risk of high blood pressure in a person.

Preeclampsia
Preeclampsia is a condition that can develop during pregnancy and can have effects like high blood pressure. High blood pressure during pregnancy can have serious effects on the mother and the baby.

Metabolic Syndrome
This is a number of conditions that can include increased blood sugar, increased blood pressure and excess fat developing around the waist all leading to high likelihood of diabetes, stroke and heart attack.

Erectile Dysfunction
High blood pressure does often lead to erectile dysfunction in people 45 years old and above.

Side Effects of High Blood Pressure Medications
All hypertensive drug medications have side effects many of which are serious. So if you are taking blood pressure drugs, you may experience all or some of the side effects of these drugs.