Labile Hypertension

Hypertension is any kind of rise in blood pressure. There are certain limits only beyond which a person is said to be hypertensive. However, when this rise in blood pressure is characterized by sudden, abrupt and repeated fluctuations of varying degrees, then it is known as labile hypertension. At times, the blood pressure may rise from 140/90 mm of Hg to 170/100 mm of Hg. This may or may not occur due to a known trigger factor, which is what makes this condition so dangerous. Given below are the labile hypertension causes, symptoms, treatment options and risks.

Causes
The exact cause, as the name suggests, is also very variable. One of the most common cause that is implicated in labile high blood pressure is stress. It is often seen that people who are under excessive stress tend to get unpredictable spurts in their blood pressure. Labile hypertension is also often associated with pheochromocytoma, which is a rare tumor of the adrenal gland. Other causes that have been stipulated include anxiety attacks, excessive consumption of caffeine, salt sensitivity, etc. There can be many different triggers of labile high blood pressure, which may even act simultaneously, leading to a multi-factorial spontaneous rise in blood pressure.

Symptoms
The symptoms of labile high blood pressure are slightly different from the symptoms of high blood pressure due to other causes. Symptoms include headache, ringing in ears (tinnitus), etc. The person normally does not feel heart palpitations. At times, labile hypertension may even be asymptomatic, that is, it may not give rise to any visible or palpable symptoms. This is the type when it may be most harmful, as it could silently be causing damage to vital organs without the person actually realizing it.

Treatment
The treatment of labile high blood pressure is not very easy, as at times, this kind of hypertension does not respond to hypertension medications. Thus, the treatment for labile high blood pressure would depend on the cause of fluctuation and the resultant pulse readings. So, for people suffering from stress, appropriate measures for stress relief need to be taken. Thus, due to the unpredictable nature of this ailment, prevention is the best cure. Individuals need to figure out the exact cause and try to keep it at bay. So some simple measures of relieving oneself from labile high blood pressure include:

• Managing stress
• Reducing the intake of fat and salts in the diet, by following a high blood pressure diet
• Losing weight if one is obese
• Quitting smoking and abstaining from excessive intake of alcohol
• Regularly exercising and leading a healthy lifestyle

Risks
The risk associated with this condition is that labile high blood pressure adds nothing to the ability of the mean blood pressure to determine the risk of cardiovascular diseases. It is said that for any given elevated variable high blood pressure, the risk of cardiovascular events is unpredictable. Furthermore, it is said that labile blood pressure has lesser significance than what is known as 'fixed hypertension'. Very high blood pressure is said to be more labile or variable in nature as compared to borderline hypertension. Thus, it is said that to calculate the risk of events that will unfold should be determined on the basis of continuous evaluation that is done over more than one examination.

Some people claim that almost everyone has an unpredictable or labile hypertension and hence, the very term labile hypertension is actually a misnomer. However, many people claim that the risk posed by labile high blood pressure is for real and should not be ignored, because like they say, better safe than sorry!