Am I at Risk of High Blood Pressure

Hypertension or high blood pressure is a common and dangerous disease in the world. This illness is also known as the “silent killer” because there’re usually no obvious warning signs or symptoms, which makes many people not know that they are having this deadly disease. To know if you are at risk of high blood pressure or not, you should have knowledge about this disease as well as your current health condition.

Hypertension and its risk factors

High blood pressure means the pressure of the blood in the blood vessels is higher than normal, which causes the heart to work harder to pump blood. Your blood pressure usually goes up and down during the day and if it is at a high number for a long time, it can damage your heart and lead to more serious health troubles.

Although hypertension has no clear symptoms, it rarely can cause headaches or vomiting. The only one way to know whether you are suffering this disease is to have your blood pressure measured by a doctor or a health professional.

Your current health conditions, your lifestyle, and your family history can contribute to the increasing of hypertension’s risks. Some health problems including prehypertension and diabetes can also be the risk factors risk of high blood pressure. Moreover, bad lifestyle plays a big role in raising the risk of hypertension. People who have the unhealthy diet, not get enough physical activities, get obesity, and consume too much alcohol and tobacco can put you at a high chance of suffering this dangerous disease. While patients are not able to control some of the risk factors such as their age or their family background, they can adjust their daily habits to lower the risk of hypertension.

What your blood pressure numbers say about your health

There are two numbers including systolic and diastolic blood pressure, used to measure your blood pressure. While the former number measures the blood pressure in the vessels when your heart beats, the later one measures blood vessels during the rest of the heart between beats. Moreover, if the result shows “120/80 mmHg” in writing or “120 over 80″ orally, it means that you get 120 systolic and 80 diastolic. If your result is less than 120/80mmHg, your have a normal blood pressure. If your levels are in between 120/80 mmHg and 140/90 mmHg, you are at high risk for hypertension, which called prehypertension. And if you have the blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher, you are suffering hypertension. It is advisable to do the blood pressure test regularly because it is the only way to know if you get hypertension or not. Besides, it does not take a lot of time or cause any pain, and you don’t have to do it at the hospital.

Hypertension is not too dangerous if you know how to control it. The information above will help you understand about high blood pressure and how to recognize if you are having it.

Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.