High blood pressure is something that affects about half of American adults, but there can be very few symptoms.
Dr. Delair Gardi, an interventional cardiologist at the Detroit Medical Center, said there are several things happening inside the body when you have high blood pressure.
“High blood pressure is when there is more pressure than there should be on the walls on your arteries,” Gardi said. “Anything above 130/80 is considered to be high, depending on your age.”
When someone has high blood pressure, it makes it hard for the blood to travel to vital organs like the kidneys, which can lead to renal failure.
“When blood is having a hard time traveling through the arteries, it can collect in the arteries of your brain and burst, causing a stroke,” he said.
There are very few symptoms of high blood pressure, which is why it’s referred to as the “silent killer,” but there can be a few physical signs.
“Headaches, dizziness, blurred vision and sometimes chest pain,” Gardi said. “When these signs of high blood pressure occur, it is particularly important to seek medical attention right away. Without treatment, these will only get worse.”
Gardi said these symptoms are the body’s way of telling you something is wrong and that you must listen.
Lowering, preventing and treating high blood pressure
Self-management at home plays a key role in managing high blood pressure. Gardi listed some essential things someone can do:
- Exercise.
- Aim for a healthy weight.
- Manage stress levels.
- Stick to a low sodium diet.
- Quit smoking.
- Limit or eliminate alcohol.
“Monitoring yourself at home by using a blood pressure cuff to take and record your blood pressure twice a day also keeps you informed,” Gardi said.
The most common treatment option is medication that include ace inhibitors, channel blockers, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers and water pills, just to name a few.
There are many different medications, but they commonly fall into two categories:
- Medications that relax the vessels and allow blood to flow easily.
- Medications that relax the arteries and allow the heart to pump the blood with more ease.
“These medications are all very common, very effective and well tolerated by our bodies.”
Gardi said the DMC has a new treatment option that will change how doctors can treat high blood pressure.
“We’ll be offering our patients a new treatment option called renal denervation. It’s minimally invasive and uses a catheter.”
He said radiofrequency pulses are applied, which burn the nerves in the walls of the renal arteries.
“This allows our body to regulate blood pressure with very little to no medications at all after the procedure. This can help eliminate a lifetime of blood pressure medications and side effects.”
The new treatment is an outpatient procedure and has very little downtime.
To take a free, online heart risk assessment to better understand your health, click or tap here.