High blood pressure
What will happen to me?
It's hard to say exactly what will happen to you if you have high blood pressure. But having high blood pressure increases your risk of having a heart attack or a stroke. It can also lead to kidney disease and heart failure.
What happens to you depends on:
- How high your blood pressure is
- How long you've had high blood pressure
- Whether you have other health problems
- What other risk factors you have for
heart disease
You get heart disease when your heart isn't able to pump blood as well as it should. This can happen for a variety of reasons.heart disease (such as high cholesterol) - Whether your blood pressure is under control.
High blood pressure can damage the walls of your blood vessels. The damage to the wall makes it easier for fatty material
to stick to it. And this can lead to clots forming.
1
Source:
Beevers G, Lip GYH, O'Brien E (editors).
ABC of hypertension.
4th edition. BMJ Books, London, UK; 2001.
Beevers G, Lip GYH, O'Brien E (editors).
ABC of hypertension.
4th edition. BMJ Books, London, UK; 2001.
- If a blood clot blocks the flow of blood to your heart it can lead to a heart attack. If a blood clot blocks the flow of blood to your brain it can lead to a stroke.
- The higher your blood pressure and the longer it stays high, the greater your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
- Not everybody with high blood pressure will get
heart disease
You get heart disease when your heart isn't able to pump blood as well as it should. This can happen for a variety of reasons.heart disease or have a stroke. Many other things affect your chance of getting heart disease apart from blood pressure. Your personal risk will depend on whether you have other risk factors, such as whether you smoke. - The people who are at the greatest risk of having a heart attack or a stroke are those who already have signs of heart disease.
Source:
World Health Organization and International Society of Hypertension.
Guidelines for management of hypertension.
Journal of Hypertension. 1999; 17: 151-185.
2 - So if you have angina (a type of chest pain that you get especially when you exert yourself) or if you've had a heart attack, and you also have high blood pressure, your chance of having another heart attack or stroke are higher. Your doctor will pay extra attention to your blood pressure.
If your blood pressure is high, your heart has to work harder to pump blood through your blood vessels. Over time the extra
work makes the heart flabby and then it can't do its job properly. Eventually your heart can become so bad at doing its job
that you get a condition called heart failure.
The main symptom of heart failure is being short of breath, even after doing something that shouldn't be hard work (for example,
walking up a few stairs). You may also get swollen ankles and feel tired.
See our information on Heart failure to find out more.
If the arteries in your
kidneys become narrow and damaged because of high blood pressure, your kidneys may not work properly. This can lead to
kidney failure.
3
kidney
Your kidneys are organs that filter your blood to make urine. You have two of them, on either side of your abdominal cavity, toward your back.
Your kidneys are organs that filter your blood to make urine. You have two of them, on either side of your abdominal cavity, toward your back.
kidney failure
Kidney failure is when the kidneys lose their ability to make urine properly, as a result of kidney disease. People with this condition need to have dialysis, which is a way to eliminate from the blood the substances that normally go in the urine.
Kidney failure is when the kidneys lose their ability to make urine properly, as a result of kidney disease. People with this condition need to have dialysis, which is a way to eliminate from the blood the substances that normally go in the urine.
Source:
National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute National High Blood Pressure Education Program.
The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure.
Available at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/hypertension/jnc7full.pdf (accessed on 17 January 2008).
National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute National High Blood Pressure Education Program.
The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure.
Available at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/hypertension/jnc7full.pdf (accessed on 17 January 2008).
The good news is that the effects of high blood pressure don't happen overnight. They usually take many years to develop.
And if you can control high blood pressure, you can reduce the chance that they will ever happen.
If you reduce your blood pressure by about 5 (top number) your chance of dying from a
stroke drops by about 14 percent and your chance of dying from
heart disease drops about by 9 percent.
4
stroke
You have a stroke when the blood supply to a part of your brain is cut off. This damages your brain and can cause symptoms like weakness or numbness on one side of your body. You may also find it hard to speak if you've had a stroke.
You have a stroke when the blood supply to a part of your brain is cut off. This damages your brain and can cause symptoms like weakness or numbness on one side of your body. You may also find it hard to speak if you've had a stroke.
heart disease
You get heart disease when your heart isn't able to pump blood as well as it should. This can happen for a variety of reasons.
You get heart disease when your heart isn't able to pump blood as well as it should. This can happen for a variety of reasons.
Source:
Chobanian AV, Bakris GL, Black HR, et al.
Seventh report of the Joint National Committee on prevention, detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure.
Hypertension. 2003; 42: 1206-1252.
Chobanian AV, Bakris GL, Black HR, et al.
Seventh report of the Joint National Committee on prevention, detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure.
Hypertension. 2003; 42: 1206-1252.
If you have high blood pressure, you'll need to have some kind of treatment. Most people need drug treatment to get their
blood pressure down. Some people may be able to bring down their blood pressure to a normal range by changing what they eat
and do. For example, losing weight and exercising can sometimes help to reduce blood pressure.
Your doctor will decide what kind of treatment you need by looking at:
- Your age
- Your sex
- How high your blood pressure is
- How long it has been high
- Whether you have any other diseases, such as diabetes
- Whether you have any other risk factors for heart disease or stroke, such as whether you smoke or have high cholesterol
- Whether you have had a heart attack or stroke before
- Whether your high blood pressure has already caused damage (for example, to your heart or kidneys).
Sources for the information on this page:
- Beevers G, Lip GYH, O'Brien E (editors).ABC of hypertension.4th edition. BMJ Books, London, UK; 2001.
- World Health Organization and International Society of Hypertension.Guidelines for management of hypertension.Journal of Hypertension. 1999; 17: 151-185.
- National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute National High Blood Pressure Education Program.The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure.Available at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/hypertension/jnc7full.pdf (accessed on 17 January 2008).
- Chobanian AV, Bakris GL, Black HR, et al.Seventh report of the Joint National Committee on prevention, detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure.Hypertension. 2003; 42: 1206-1252.
This information was last updated on Jul 25, 2008
This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2009. All rights reserved.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2009. All rights reserved.
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Source: ConsumerReportsHealth.org Copyright © 2005-2008 Consumers Union of U.S., Inc.
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