This is an automatically translated article.
The article was professionally consulted by Doctor General Internal Medicine - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital.
Hypertension is a global disease. According to WHO statistics, around 1 billion people worldwide have high blood pressure and it is also one of the most important causes of death. So what causes high blood pressure? What complications does high blood pressure cause? The following article will help you learn more about this disease.
1. What is hypertension?
According to the guidelines for treatment of hypertension issued by the Ministry of Health in 2010, hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure >= 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure >= 90 mmHg (however, it is important to keep This definition of blood pressure threshold applies only to blood pressure measurements according to hospital/clinic procedures.If blood pressure is measured at home or ambulatory, the diagnosis of hypertension will use thresholds. different blood pressure).
2. Causes of high blood pressure
Most hypertension in adults has no known cause (primary hypertension), only about 10% of cases have a cause (secondary hypertension). The cause of hypertension can be discovered through history taking, physical examination, and routine laboratory findings. Some cases of hypertension that need attention to find the cause include: hypertension at a young age (<30 years), resistant hypertension, advanced or malignant hypertension.
Common causes of secondary hypertension include:
Acute or chronic kidney disease: Acute/chronic glomerulonephritis, interstitial nephritis, kidney stones, polycystic kidney, hydronephrosis, renal failure. Renal artery stenosis. Adrenal myeloma. Primary hyperaldosteronism (Conn's syndrome). Cushing's syndrome. Thyroid/parathyroid disease, pituitary gland. Drug-related, drug-related (Non-steroid anti-inflammatory, oral contraceptives, corticosteroids,...) Morning sickness. Mental factor.
3. Complications of high blood pressure
High blood pressure is known as the "silent killer" because the disease progresses silently and if left unchecked, it will lead to dangerous complications:
Heart attack, stroke: hypertension causes fibrosis hardening and thickening of the blood vessel walls (atherosclerosis), which can lead to heart attack, stroke, or other complications Aneurysm: increased blood pressure causes the wall of a vessel to weaken and bulge, forming an aneurysm . If a blood vessel ruptures, it can be life-threatening. Heart failure: In order to pump blood against the high pressure in the vessel walls, your heart has to work harder, resulting in left ventricular hypertrophy. When the heart muscle thickens, it becomes difficult to pump enough blood to meet the body's needs, which can lead to heart failure Renal failure due to the risk of narrowing of the renal artery when hypertension Retinal hemorrhage Metabolic syndrome: Syndrome This includes a group of disorders of your body's metabolism, including: increased waist circumference, increased triglycerides, decreased HDL-C (good cholesterol), high insulin levels. These disorders make you more susceptible to diabetes, heart disease, stroke Brain complications: Narrowed arteries make it difficult for blood to flow to the brain, leading to stroke, brain hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, dementia memory.
Hypertension is associated with other cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity,... These risk factors contribute to the prognosis of hypertensive patients . At the same time, hypertension with or without complications on the target organs also greatly affects the results of treatment. Therefore, the current antihypertensive treatment strategy requires both optimal control of the patient's blood pressure and control of the cardiovascular risk factors that the patient has simultaneously.
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