How high is too high? Understanding blood pressure and its symptoms (With pictures)

by | 8 月 8, 2024

Basic Knowledge of Hypertension

You often hear the term “hypertension.” Indeed, the prevalence of hypertension is high nowadays, but many patients do not regularly manage their blood pressure. Whenever they measure their blood pressure and find it elevated, they might say, “Oh, I was just in a hurry,” or “I’m just a bit nervous right now,” explaining the high reading as a temporary situation. They often believe their “high blood pressure is just temporary” and do not consider hypertension as a condition that requires long-term attention. Today, let’s return to the basics and understand what hypertension is and why everyone needs to monitor their blood pressure.

First, what is blood pressure? In ancient times, there were often wars, and to defeat cavalry, the opponents would point long spears at the charging horses, attempting to knock them down. When the horse fell, and a final blow was delivered, people noticed that blood would spurt high into the air like a fountain. At that moment, they realized, “Wow! Blood flows through the body with great force.” This was the beginning of awareness about “blood pressure.”

Simply put, there is blood flowing in our blood vessels, and this flowing blood exerts pressure on the vessel walls. This pressure is called blood pressure.

When talking about blood pressure, you might recall hearing numbers like 137/86 mmHg and terms like “systolic pressure” and “diastolic pressure.” What does 137 represent, systolic or diastolic pressure?

Systolic pressure represents the pressure on the blood vessels when the heart contracts, while diastolic pressure is the pressure on the blood vessels when the heart relaxes. Therefore, when the heart contracts and exerts force, the pressure on the blood vessels is higher, so the systolic pressure value is written first, the higher number. So, a blood pressure reading of 137/86 means the systolic pressure is 137 mmHg, and the diastolic pressure is 86 mmHg.

Currently, a normal systolic pressure is considered to be less than 120 mmHg and a diastolic pressure less than 80 mmHg. Combined, they are recorded as 120/80 mmHg, which is considered a healthy blood pressure. If someone has “hypertension,” it means their blood vessels are under higher pressure than normal. The older standard for hypertension was set at 140/90 mmHg, but now the consensus has lowered the standard to 130/80 mmHg. So, if a blood pressure reading exceeds 130/80 mmHg, it is considered hypertension.

Often, patients who occasionally measure their blood pressure and find it over 130/80 mmHg might say, “Really? I didn’t know,” or “But I don’t feel uncomfortable. Isn’t hypertension supposed to cause headaches?”

Well, this is a common misunderstanding.

1. Hypertension usually doesn’t cause any symptoms. Without measuring, very few people would know they have high blood pressure.

2. Although headaches can be caused by hypertension, there are many other causes of headaches that aren’t necessarily related to high blood pressure.

3. Many people think that high blood pressure should cause symptoms like headaches, dizziness, or neck pain, but most hypertension patients usually feel nothing. Hypertension is like a “silent killer,” and when an incident occurs, it often results in severe outcomes.

When first diagnosed with hypertension, most patients tend to deny it is a problem and refuse to change their lifestyle to improve their blood pressure. Therefore, we should ask: What happens to the body if blood pressure is not controlled?

Think about it: all organs need blood flow to function, but if the blood flowing through them is under extremely high pressure, is it beneficial for the organs? No. Just as high voltage can damage electrical appliances and high water pressure can damage pipelines, high blood pressure damages organs. Uncontrolled hypertension continuously harms the body’s organs, eventually leading to heart failure, myocardial infarction, aortic dissection, stroke, vision loss, and kidney failure.

So, if asked, “Why do we need to control blood pressure?” remember that uncontrolled hypertension can cause multiple organ damage and ultimately lead to death from related complications.

Many people think “hypertension is a scam of modern medicine” or ask, “Didn’t people in the past have hypertension?”

Well, it should be said that people in the past also had high blood pressure, but they didn’t understand the problems it caused, so they didn’t have the concept of controlling blood pressure. How can we prove that people in the past had high blood pressure? We can look at the blood pressure records of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. When he was 54 years old and running for his second term, his blood pressure was 162/98 mmHg; during his third term, it was 188/105 mmHg. By his fourth term, his systolic pressure had exceeded 200 mmHg, generally ranging between 200 and 240 mmHg. When he suddenly collapsed, his systolic pressure had surged past 300 mmHg, resulting in a massive cerebral hemorrhage stroke, and he died at 63 years old after being in a coma for over two hours.

You might think, “That blood pressure is outrageous! How could his systolic pressure always exceed 200 mmHg? As President of the United States, wasn’t he controlling his blood pressure?” Actually, the medical view was different then. People believed that high blood pressure was a “natural feedback mechanism” and that blood pressure “had to” increase with aging. Thus, in the 1940s, many people in their early 40s had extremely high blood pressure, and while they had no symptoms, they gradually hospitalized due to angina, heart failure, stroke, or kidney failure, and soon died. Even as President, Roosevelt followed this path of stroke and organ failure due to uncontrolled hypertension.

Later, clinical medicine discovered that patients’ symptoms like hematuria and headaches significantly improved when their blood pressure decreased. People gradually understood the negative impacts of hypertension on the heart, liver, kidneys, endocrine, and nervous systems, realizing that controlling blood pressure was crucial to reducing deaths and disabilities caused by vascular diseases.

Many unhealthy lifestyle habits can raise blood pressure, such as eating a lot of fatty foods, greasy fast foods, or heavily salted foods and sauces. Low physical activity, frequent sedentary behavior, or obesity also contribute to higher blood pressure. Additionally, smoking, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol consumption are risk factors for hypertension.

To prevent hypertension, it is best to exercise five days a week for 30 minutes each day. Maintain a healthy diet, eating fresh vegetables, fruits, and minimally processed foods, and limit salt and alcohol intake. Avoid smoking and reduce stress in life.

If lifestyle changes do not sufficiently lower blood pressure, consider medication to control it. Regularly monitor your blood pressure to stay aware of its condition.

追蹤照護線上

最新文章 搶先收看

新一代口服BTK抑制劑突破治療困境,原發性中樞神經系統B細胞淋巴瘤PCNSL標靶治療解析,腫瘤專科醫師圖文懶人包

新一代口服BTK抑制劑突破治療困境,原發性中樞神經系統B細胞淋巴瘤PCNSL標靶治療解析,腫瘤專科醫師圖文懶人包

「那是一位70歲的男士,因為經常頭痛而就醫,進一步檢查後確診為原發性中樞神經系統B細胞淋巴瘤,並開始接受一線化學治療。」沈俊佑醫師表示,「高劑量化學治療導致多種副作用,讓患者難以承受,腦部腫瘤也持續擴大。」

經過討論後,醫療團隊決定為患者申請使用標靶藥物–新一代口服BTK抑制劑。因為新一代口服BTK抑制劑的副作用較少,且治療方式從住院化療轉為門診口服,大幅改善了生活品質,也讓患者願意繼續接受治療。

減重手術後遺症有哪些? 減重手術方法、術後照料方式一次看!

減重手術後遺症有哪些? 減重手術方法、術後照料方式一次看!

一名運動員退役後,因無比賽大量運動練習,體重持續上升,加上年紀增長,有感新陳代謝變慢,體重也逐漸飆升破百,並伴隨膽固醇超標,血壓些微偏高以及脂肪肝。因體健報告紅字逐漸增加,讓其意識到嚴重性,經醫師評估後施作ESG無痕胃拉提(內視鏡袖狀胃成形術); 術後4個月成功減去原體重17%,原先病症也得以改善。

持續背痛三個月,越休息越痛?當心僵直性脊椎炎!免疫風濕專科醫師圖文解說

持續背痛三個月,越休息越痛?當心僵直性脊椎炎!免疫風濕專科醫師圖文解說

你曾有過持續背痛,休息越久反而越不舒服,甚至因此駝背的狀況嗎?小心,可能是僵直性脊椎炎(Ankylosing Spondylitis, AS)!童綜合醫院過敏免疫風濕科主任邱瑩明醫師解釋,僵直性脊椎炎是一種自體免疫疾病,最常見症狀為持續的背部疼痛,但因容易被誤認為一般肌肉疼痛而忽略。疾病好發於青少年至年輕成人,從十幾歲便可能開始發病,且男性患者的比例顯著高於女性,約為4:1,患者發病時可能正值青年,而因疾病影響了原本的生活、工作計劃。