Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to disability, a poor quality of life, or even a deadly heart attack or stroke. Treatment and lifestyle changes can help control high blood pressure to reduce the risk of life-threatening complications.
Can you live a normal life with high blood pressure?
Hypertension should not keep you from living a normal life.
You will need to take your medicine every day, even when you feel fine, and make sure your blood pressure is checked regularly. You will also need to watch what you eat and drink, and how much salt you eat. You will also have to be more active.
High blood pressure can damage your arteries by making them less elastic, which decreases the flow of blood and oxygen to your heart and leads to heart disease. In addition, decreased blood flow to the heart can cause: Chest pain, also called angina.
Healthy lifestyle habits —such as not smoking, exercising and eating well — can help prevent and treat high blood pressure. Some people need medicine to treat high blood pressure. High blood pressure is a common condition that affects the body's arteries.
Your health care provider may recommend that you make lifestyle changes including: Eating a heart-healthy diet with less salt. Getting regular physical activity. Maintaining a healthy weight or losing weight.
Yes. According to researchers, one-third of high school, college, and professional players, who underwent screening at the Stanford Sports Cardiology Clinic were reported to have high blood pressure. These people are young, healthy, and have extensive fitness routines.
There is no cure for high blood pressure. But treatment can lower blood pressure that is too high. If it is mild, high blood pressure may sometimes be brought under control by making changes to a healthier lifestyle.
How long does it take for high blood pressure to cause damage?
In other words, once blood pressure rises above normal, subtle but harmful brain changes can occur rather quickly—perhaps within a year or two. And those changes may be hard to reverse, even if blood pressure is nudged back into the normal range with treatment.
Possible health consequences that can happen over time when high blood pressure is left untreated include: Damage to the heart and coronary arteries, including heart attack, heart disease, congestive heart failure, aortic dissection, and atherosclerosis. Stroke. Kidney damage.
Call 911 or emergency medical services if your blood pressure is 180/120 mm Hg or greater and you have chest pain, shortness of breath, or symptoms of stroke. Stroke symptoms include numbness or tingling, trouble speaking, or changes in vision.
Q. When I am monitoring my blood pressure, which number is most important — top, bottom, or both? A. While both numbers in a blood pressure reading are essential for diagnosing and treating high blood pressure, doctors primarily focus on the top number, also known as systolic pressure.
On the other hand, the life expectancy of someone with controlled high blood pressure can often be well into retirement age. With that being said, research³ does show that although you can live a long life, it may be five to seven years shorter than those without high blood pressure.
How long do people with high blood pressure usually live?
For all-cause death, absolute excess risks ranged from 10.1 to 107.6 per 1000 in 25 years. For men with higher BP levels, ie, high-normal BP and stages 1, 2, and 3 hypertension, estimated life expectancy was shorter by 2.2, 4.1, 8.4, and 12.2 years, respectively, compared with men with normal BP.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one in three adults in the United States has high blood pressure, medically known as hypertension. While only 25% of men ages 35 to 44 have high blood pressure, 64% of men from age 65 to 74, do.
Fortunately, high blood pressure is treatable and preventable. To lower your risk, get your blood pressure checked regularly and take action to control your blood pressure if it is high.
Primary hypertension cannot be completely reversed. But that doesn't mean everyone with this kind of high blood pressure needs to take medication. Some people are able to keep their blood pressure within a healthy range with lifestyle changes. But that requires sustaining these habits long term.
Drinking water can help normalize your blood pressure but doesn't necessarily lower your blood pressure unless you are dehydrated. Because your blood is made up of 90% water, the overall volume will decrease when you are dehydrated.
Why do fit and active people have high blood pressure? There are a lot of factors that come into play when it comes to hypertension, for example, genetics, body composition and diet. There are almost always multiple factors at work. Some of these causes can't be prevented, like genetics and age.
Caffeine may cause a short, but dramatic increase in your blood pressure, even if you don't have high blood pressure. It's unclear what causes this spike in blood pressure. The blood pressure response to caffeine differs from person to person.
When should I be worried about high blood pressure?
Your blood pressure is considered high (stage 1) if it reads 130/80. Stage 2 high blood pressure is 140/90 or higher. If you get a blood pressure reading of 180/110 or higher more than once, seek medical treatment right away. A reading this high is considered “hypertensive crisis.”
One reason a lack of sleep affects blood pressure is that sleep helps manage stress hormones like cortisol. If you don't sleep enough, your body can't properly regulate these hormones, which can lead to high blood pressure.
When you're dehydrated, sodium levels in your blood typically rise. Your system responds by releasing more of a hormone called vasopressin, which works to help your body hang on to water. Vasopressin also can cause your blood vessels to tighten, or constrict, which makes your blood pressure rise.
Trait anger was assessed with the Spielberger trait anger scale. Cross-sectionally, we found that with increasing BP, hypertensive men overrated anger displayed in facial expressions of mixed emotions as compared to normotensive men (ps ≤ . 019) while there were no differences in trait anger (p = . 16).