High Blood Pressure

As blood is pumped from your heart through your body, the blood puts force or pressure against the blood vessel (or artery) walls. Your blood pressure is a reading, or measure, of this pressure. When that reading goes above a certain point, it is called high blood pressure, another name for hypertension. When you have high blood pressure, it is partly because your blood vessels become narrower, forcing your heart to pump harder to move blood through your body. These changes cause the blood to press on the vessels walls with greater force.

High blood pressure is called the "silent killer" because it usually has no signs or symptoms. It is dangerous because it makes the heart work too hard. If not controlled over time, high blood pressure can affect not only your heart and blood vessels but also other organs, making them function not as well as they should. The effects of uncontrolled high blood pressure include:

• Stroke. High blood pressure is the most important risk factor for stroke. High blood pressure can cause a break in a weakened blood vessel in the brain. This can cause bleeding in the brain, which is a stroke. If a blood clot blocks a narrowed blood vessel, it can also cause another type of stroke.

• Impaired vision. Blood vessels in the eye can in time burst or bleed due to high blood pressure. Vision can become blurred or impaired and can result in blindness.

• Kidney damage. The kidneys filter wastes from our bodies. Over time, high blood pressure can narrow and thicken the blood vessels of the kidneys. Thus the kidneys can not do their job well, and wastes build up in the blood. When kidney failure occurs, medical treatment (dialysis) or a kidney transplant is needed.

• Heart attack. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart attack. If the heart cannot get enough oxygen because of narrowed or hardened arteries, chest pain (angina) can occur. If the flow of blood is blocked, a heart attack results.

• Congestive heart failure. High blood pressure is the number one risk factor for congestive heart failure, a serious condition where the heart is not able to pump enough blood to meet the body's needs.

While high blood pressure can't be cured, in most cases, it can be prevented and controlled with a healthy lifestyle and medication.