What is high blood pressure?

High blood pressure is the pressure in the arteries that is higher than normal. It is usually without symptoms and can go unnoticed for a long time, which increases the risk of heart failure, heart attack, stroke, kidney damage and damage of the retina . Hypertension means high blood pressure, regardless of the cause, and it is divided into primary (essential) and secondary hypertension. Hypertension is called the „silent killer“ because it doesnt cause any problems for years and damages vital organs and their function. Blood pressure naturally varies in different periods of life and even during the day. Children and adolescents have significantly lower pressure than adults. For most people, pressure is the highest in the morning and lowest at night during sleep.

In order to know what is high blood pressure, you need to understand the various damages it causes to vital organs. Untreated hypertension increases the risk of coronary heart disease and is a major factor for stroke. Hypertension is also one of the three most important causes of myocardial infarction. When it  is untreated for many years or inadequately treated it causes the thickening (hypertrophy) of the heart muscle. The blood vessels that supply the heart with oxygen and nutrients are located on the outer side of the heart muscle. When the thickening of the heart muscle becomes too big, heart blood vessels can not supply its deepest parts with enough blood. Eventually, that causes a heart attack. If the person also smokes, has elevated fat or sugar in the blood chances for heart attack multiply. After the thickening of the heart muscle, enlargement of the left ventricle develops. Due to its enlargement, blood returns to the left atrium and then into the lungs. This causes the development of pulmonary edema, which can lead to death if not intervened.  Primary (essential) hypertension can not be cured, as opposed to a secondary that can be cured by removing the causes that led to hypertension (eg, adrenal tumor). Everyone diagnosed with primary hypertension (unknown cause) should know that there is no cure and the treatment will be lengthy, and for life. Many patients are taking treatment for lowering pressure only when they „feel“ that they have hypertension. This is completely wrong way to take medications. Often they do it because they arent informed well on what is high blood pressure. Medications prescribed for lowering blood pressure should be taken regularly, preferably at the same time of day. Patients should also measure and record blood pressure a few times a week, in different periods of the day.