Most people who have hypertension or high blood pressure have no symptoms, they feel completely normal. Hence it is called “the silent killer”. That means even if you don’t feel anything wrong, you might be suffering from hypertension. And if you are suffering from it, you have an increased risk of stroke, heart disease and damaged arteries and brain cells, vision loss and several other complications if left unchecked. Below we have listed 10 severe health conditions that should give you ample reasons to keep your BP under control.
Damage To Arteries
High blood pressure exerts extra pressure on the artery or blood vessel walls which, over time, could lead to damage to arteries and make them more susceptible to fatty deposits buildup (plaque), causing a condition called atherosclerosis. This will in turn disrupt blood flow to various organs in the body. A clogged sink condition.
Heart Disease
Atherosclerosis causes arteries of the heart to thicken, blocking blood and oxygen supply to the heart. This may give rise to chest pains and irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias).
Heart Attack
A heart attack can occur when blood clots completely block the oxygen supply to the heart.
Damage to Brain, Stroke
Blood clots may also block the oxygen supply to brain cells. This may cause the brain to die and stroke or dementia to occur. Also, the bursting of arteries in the brain may cause bleeding brain, resulting in a stroke.
Vision loss
Uncontrolled high blood pressure may also cause the blood vessels in the eye to thicken and narrow, disrupting the blood supply to the retina and resulting in blurred vision. The retinal veins may burst and cause bleeding in the eye. Hypertensive retinopathy can occur which can lead to total vision loss.
Kidney Failure
High BP can damage the arteries leading to the kidneys and the blood vessels there. This may affect the kidneys’ ability to remove excess water and waste products from the blood. In turn, this may lead to kidney failure.
Bone Loss
It may lead to excreting more calcium in the urine. Excessive calcium loss can lead to a loss in bone density.
Preeclampsia in Pregnant Women
Preeclampsia, a condition characterised by hypertension and protein in the urine, may also affect pregnant women. This can lead to affecting the unborn child’s growth as blood flow to the placenta reduces. Severe preeclampsia or eclampsia, where the mother suffers from seizures and convulsions, may develop.
Sexual Dysfunction
Hypertension can cause erectile dysfunction (ED) in men. Women with hypertension may experience vaginal dryness and lower sex drive.
Metabolic Syndrome
A metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors that increases your risk for heart disease and stroke. These factors include high blood pressure, excess abdominal fat, high cholesterol and high glucose levels.
How to Control BP?
Now that we have learnt how important it is to maintain our BP, how do we control it? Changing our lifestyle and eating habits is the best way to keep our BP in check. We must reduce our salt intake, stop smoking and alcohol, eat more fruits and vegetables, stay physically active, maintain a healthy weight and regularly check our blood pressure.
India Hypertension Control Initiative
India has more than 200 million people with hypertension, and only 14.5% of individuals with hypertension are on treatment. Started in 2018, the India Hypertension Control Initiative, jointly funded by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), aimed to improve blood pressure control for people with hypertension. More than two million patients were started on treatment and tracked to see whether they achieved BP control. Today India has registered success with BP treatment and control of these patients and more. The project has by now expanded to more than 100 districts.
So let’s keep our BP in check by eating healthy and exercising right. Take the stairs, walk briskly and further to lunch, jog, dance, and be active. Let’s take a pledge to take care of our and our family’s BP health…!