From this article you will learn about the most common form of essential hypertension - essential hypertension: what it is, its causes, principles of treatment and prevention.
Contents of the article:
- Causes of the disease
- Characteristic symptoms
- Diagnosis
- Treatment methods
- Forecast
All patients have heard of a disease such as hypertension - a persistent increase in blood pressure above 140/90 mm Hg. Art. However, not everyone knows that this disease has a certain division or classification. This division is based on the causes of the onset of the disease:
- Primary arterial hypertension is called essential hypertension in another way. This is the most common type of hypertension, accounting for approximately 90% of the total. Its difference is that the increase in pressure develops on its own - primarily - only against the background of predisposing factors.
- Symptomatic arterial hypertension is the rarer( with a frequency of about 5-10%) and heavier type of hypertension, developing again - against renal diseases( renal form), renal vascular anomalies( renovascular), endocrine disorders, taking certain medications as theirby-effect.
- Gestational arterial hypertension is a special type of hypertensive disease that develops only in pregnant women and passes after the termination of pregnancy in one way or another( urgent or premature birth, miscarriage, abortion).
Increased pressure in glomerulonephritis is an example of symptomatic hypertension. Click on the picture to enlarge Today we will talk about the first - the most common form of hypertension. It is believed that primary arterial hypertension is a disease of older people, but in recent years the disease has significantly younger. According to statistics of the World Health Organization, the incidence of primary arterial hypertension is about 20-30% of the total population, and in the age group over 60 years - more than 50%.
Depending on the degree of arterial hypertension, that is, the pressure level, as well as the individual characteristics of the patient's body, primary hypertension can proceed in different ways. Some patients suffer from headaches and other symptoms, which we will discuss below. In a number of patients, the disease does not manifest itself in any way and is detected accidentally during the next examination by a doctor.
The main danger of hypertension is its complications. Constantly high pressure affects the vessels of so-called target organs - the retina of the eye, kidneys, heart and its large vessels, and most importantly - the arteries of the brain. Such adverse changes lead to acute disorders of blood flow in these organs. As a consequence, myocardial infarction occurs, strokes, renal and heart failure develop, at the peak of arterial blood pressure there can be a hemorrhage in the retina of the eye.
The possibilities of treating primary hypertension are huge today - the drug market offers a wide range of different drugs, and doctors are inventing new methods and means for the prevention and treatment of hypertension. But the longer the hypertensive patient had, the less pronounced the effects of the treatment. Therefore, the question whether it is possible to completely and radically cure this disease is quite controversial;the answer is: "rather no than yes."With regular use of prescribed drugs against pressure, diet and healthy lifestyle, essential hypertension is fully controlable.
The impact of essential hypertension on the cerebral arteries The most common treatment for primary hypertension is the therapist. In the presence of complications of the disease, a cardiologist, an endocrinologist, a neurologist are involved in treatment.
Causes of the disease
The true cause of persistent increase in pressure without concomitant diseases of the heart or kidneys - that is, essential hypertension - is thoroughly unknown. Scientists have identified a list of risk factors that are likely to increase the chances of developing hypertension:
- Heredity. The presence of hypertension in blood relatives increases the likelihood of disease in the offspring.
- Smoking. Nicotine and tar have a destructive effect on blood vessels, and together with increased pressure this effect is much more pronounced.
- Drinking alcohol. This is a systematic intake of alcohol in large doses. Against the backdrop of high doses of alcohol, there is a spasm of blood vessels and increased heart rate, which can cause extreme manifestation of hypertension - hypertensive crisis.
- Obesity. In order to pump blood in a body with a larger mass, intensive work of the heart is necessary. The more the heart works, the higher the arterial pressure is formed.
- Diabetes mellitus affects the walls of the vessels - there is a so-called diabetic angiopathy. Such vessels are less sensitive to commands to maintain the proper level of pressure.
- Gender. It is believed that women before the onset of the menopause less exposed to the risk of hypertension because of the protective effect of female sex hormones on the heart and blood vessels.
- Age. The older the patient, the higher the chances of contracting hypertension. This is due to the natural aging of the heart muscle, a weak response of the vessels to the brain commands, the destruction of the receptors that capture blood pressure in the vessels.
- Cholesterol level and the presence of arteriosclerosis of blood vessels. The deposition of "excess" cholesterol in the lumen of the vessels in the form of atherosclerotic plaques makes them fragile and inelastic. Such vessels resemble glass tubes that are not sensitive to the commands of the brain to change the tone and maintain optimal blood pressure.
- Improper diet - excess in the diet of fatty foods, salt, pickles, sweets and flour, lack of clean drinking water stimulate the retention of salts and fluids in the body, increasing the burden on the heart and kidneys.
- Stresses and emotional overstrain uniquely affect the development of hypertension. That is why a higher incidence was recorded in people with intellectual labor and "nervous" work - teachers, accountants, doctors, managers.
- The sedentary lifestyle provokes both obesity and vascular disturbances-venous outflow from organs and tissues, oxygen starvation of tissues, which forces the heart to work with greater force and increase blood pressure to compensate for these problems.
Diabetes mellitus - one of the possible causes of the development of essential hypertension As we see, arterial hypertension is not without reason attributed to the disease of the 21st century, because all predisposing factors can be found in a modern resident of large cities.
Symptoms of
Clinical manifestations of essential hypertension strongly depend on the level of pressure and individual sensitivity of the patient to high blood pressure. In general, essential, or primary, hypertension is characterized by:
- Headaches of a pulverizing or pulsating nature, which are often the first manifestation of the disease.
- Weakness, drowsiness, sleep disorders, decreased efficiency.
- Noise in the ears - a sensation of a pulsation of blood in the ears and head.
- Vision disorders by the type of flickering midges, double vision, visual acuity reduction.
- Violations in the work of the heart - a rapid heartbeat, pain in the heart.
- Shortness of breath - a feeling of lack of air and quick breathing.
- Appearance of edema, falling off with increased pressure.
In a part of patients, essential arterial hypertension is asymptomatic, gradually making its "black matter", affecting the kidneys, eyes and heart.
An extreme manifestation of hypertension is hypertensive crisis - a sharp increase in pressure to high for this patient figures( 160/100 - 200/120 mm Hg) and an extremely pronounced manifestation of symptoms of hypertension.
Diagnosis
Primary detection of essential hypertension is not difficult: it is enough to measure blood pressure several times by the method of Korotkov - an ordinary tonometer on both hands at different times of the day. In doubtful cases, a patient may be recommended to use a 24-hour monitoring of blood pressure - SMAD.To do this, a portable tonometer is fixed on the hand, which automatically measures the pressure at specified intervals and records the results and measurement time in the database.
For further diagnosis, it is important to assess the condition of target organs:
- Ophthalmologist examination and evaluation of the vessels of the fundus.
- Blood tests for the evaluation of protein, sugar, cholesterol and its fractions levels.
- Urinalysis for an approximate assessment of kidney function.
- Electrocardiogram.
- ultrasound of the heart and abdominal organs.
- Neurological examination and assessment of neurological status.
These studies can help the doctor to orientate about the duration and severity of the disease in a particular patient.
With a portable blood pressure monitor you can measure BP around the clock Treatment methods
No essential hypertension is available for radical treatment, however, competent treatment and lifestyle can completely compensate for the patient's condition and minimize possible complications. Patients often very lightly refer to their diagnosis, considering hypertension as a non-serious disease is akin to a common cold. This is an extremely dangerous delusion, hypertension needs constant and systematic treatment. Self-medication is completely unacceptable, therapy is selected, appointed and controlled by a physician.
The patient should be prepared, that not always it is possible to pick up treatment from the first time, it should be changed or combined. This does not mean that the doctor is incompetent, rather the opposite - he is trying to find an individual scheme for a particular patient.
Medical measures in the diagnosis of "essential hypertension" can be divided into drug and behavioral. Let's start with drug-free treatment.
Healthy lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle should definitely be included in the treatment and prevention of hypertension. For mild degrees of illness in young patients, normalization of diet and lifestyle is sufficient to compensate for the condition. It is necessary to normalize food, to limit the consumption of animal fats, sugar, salty foods, coffee, alcohol. It is important to eat enough vegetables, fruits, vegetable oils, clean drinking water.
Physical activity is very important, even if it is dosed. Cardiologists recommend one hour of active walking a day - this variant of the load reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Excellent options are swimming, running, yoga, aqua aerobics.
It is necessary to avoid stress, nervous shocks, observe the regime of the day and sleep at least 8 hours at night.
Drug Therapy
The following groups of drugs are recommended for the treatment of hypertension:
Antihypertensive drugs
These are different in the mechanism of action chemicals that reduce blood pressure, heart rate, relaxing vessels.
- Beta-blockers
- Alpha-blockers
- Calcium channel blockers
- Inhibitors of IAP
- angiotensin
- receptor antagonists Vasodilators
- Diuretics
- Combination preparations
Sedatives
soothing preparations may be both very "simple" - vegetable( valerian, motherwort, mint), and complex - tranquilizers and antidepressants, appointed by psychotherapists.
Supplementary drugs
These groups of drugs can be prescribed based on concomitant diseases of the patient and damage to target organs.
- Neuroprotectors and nootropics are agents that protect cells of the nervous system and brain.
- Sugar-reducing drugs and insulin for diabetics.
- Cholesterol-lowering drugs - statins.
- Replacement hormone therapy in women during menopause is often prescribed against the backdrop of a severe course of menopause in combination with unstable pressure, hot flushes.
It is important to understand that only systematic, regular and prescribed doses of the treatment can stabilize hypertension, relieve the patient of unpleasant clinical symptoms and possible complications - strokes, heart attacks that lead not only to severe disability, but also death.
Forecast
In general, the prognosis for controlled hypertension is favorable. Control can be achieved only by systematic treatment and a healthy lifestyle.
Uncontrolled course of the disease without taking medications, with frequent hypertensive crises on the background of unhealthy eating behavior and a sedentary lifestyle is fraught with serious complications and even death. The average world mortality from hypertension is about 6-7%.
