Why High Blood Pressure is a Health Concern?

When the heart pumps blood to circulate it all over the body, a specific amount of force is exerted by the blood on the vessels. It is this pressure which is known as blood pressure. When a person has high blood pressure, it means the heart is making extra efforts for proper circulation of the blood. As a result, sufficient amount of blood may not reach the vital organs of the body. Decrease in oxygen supply prohibits normal functioning of these organs.

Effects of High Blood Pressure

Arteries: The main reason why high blood pressure is a health concern lies with the fact that it causes substantial damage to the inner lining of the arteries and can make the flexible arteries of the body thick and stiff. This condition is known as arteriosclerosis. When the dietary fat gets absorbed into the blood and moves through the arteries with damaged cells, the fats get collected on their walls and narrows down the passage, thus causing atherosclerosis. Due to continuous exertion of high pressure on these damaged blood vessels, walls of the artery bulge out. This is called aneurysm which can result in breaking up of the artery walls, and cause internal bleeding. These three forms of damage in the arteries results in some serious health consequences.

Heart : High blood pressure is a health concern because it adversely affects the heart's health too. With an increase in blood pressure, the heart muscles have to work very hard to carry out its activities. The muscles thus get tensed and weak, and are unable to carry out its activities. This leads to heart failure. Under this condition, the heart has to strain itself a lot. This extra pressure makes the heart's left ventricle large and stiff. This reduces the capacity of the heart to pump out blood. Thus, the risk of heart attack and sudden cardiac arrest resulting in death may occur. Coronary artery disease narrows down the passage of those arteries that are responsible for supplying blood to the heart muscles. Thus, the free flow of blood becomes difficult and gives rise to pain in the chest muscles (called angina). Sometimes, blood flow through the arteries can be completely or partially blocked due to atherosclerosis. As a result, irregular heart rhythms (or arrhythmias), heart attack may also happen. The chances of heart attack to be fatal are more in those people who have high blood pressure.

Brain: Like any other organ of our body, proper functioning of our brain is dependent upon the nutrients supplied through the blood. When high blood pressure becomes uncontrolled, it not only weakens or damages the blood vessels but also causes blood clots in the arteries. Due to this type of clot in the arteries of the brain, supply of oxygen and nutrients to the brain decreases and the brain cells die. This kind of condition is known as a stroke. Likewise, transient ischemic attack (TIA) also known as ministroke, in which blood supply to the brain is temporarily disrupted due to atherosclerosis is because of high blood pressure. Dementia is a form of brain disease in thinking, reasoning, vision and movement are affected because of blockage or narrowing down of the arteries.

Kidneys: The main function of the kidneys is to throw out the waste material from our body. There are tiny blood vessels in the kidneys which are known as glomeruli. They are responsible for filtering the fluid and waste present in our blood. High blood pressure can render them ineffective and lead to a type of kidney damage known as glomerulosclerosis. Similarly, when arteries that lead to the kidneys are damaged, it fails to filter out the unwanted material from the bloodstream, and this is termed as kidney failure. Accumulation of these substances in the blood is a serious health concern. Sometimes, to cure this problem, dialysis or a kidney transplant is required. Another kidney disorder that gives rise due to high blood pressure is kidney (renal) artery aneurysm, which is the formation of a bulge on the weakened artery wall. We have already discussed that any form of aneurysm can lead to internal bleeding and is life-threatening.

The biggest problem is that high blood pressure does not have any signs and symptoms from which it can be detected. It is only when one's blood pressure is checked can the problem can be identified.