Why is Hypertension Dangerous
Hypertension (the medical term for high blood pressure) is a serious health problem. Your blood pressure rises and falls during the day, this is completely normal and is not a health issue. But if your blood pressure stays elevated over time, this will cause serious health issues.
Hypertension is dangerous because it forces your heart work harder and contributes to hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). This increases the risk of heart diseases and stroke. High blood pressure may also contribute to other serious conditions, such as kidney diseases, aneurysm (abnormal widening or ballooning of an artery) and blindness.
Generally, a blood pressure of 140/90 or higher is classified as hypertension. A blood pressure between 120/80 and 139/89 is considered prehypertension, meaning that you don’t have high blood pressure but may develop it later. People with prehypertension are twice as likely to develop hypertension as people with normal blood pressure.
Because hypertension seldom causes any symptoms in the beginning it is also known as the silent killer. A lot of people who suffer from hypertension don’t know that they have a serious health problem. In many cases, people find out that they suffer from hypertension during a routine medical checkup which includes a blood pressure reading. If hypertension is detected early and successfully combated, the damage done is generally negligible. But if nothing is done, the damage starts to add up. Worse, in many cases, the blood pressure keeps on increasing which means that the risk of serious health problems also increases. Thus, it is vital to start as early as possible to lower your blood pressure if you are suffering from hypertension.
How do you lower your blood pressure? A lot of people rely on medication but as a long term solution drugs have major disadvantages. In most cases, trying to lower your blood pressure naturally is a much better strategy. If your blood pressure is very high, you may have to use both medication and change your life style in order to get your blood pressure down to reasonable levels.
