High blood pressure is cited as one of the most common risk factors for heart disease. Moreover, high blood pressure increases the risk for heart attack, kidney failure, stroke and atherosclerosis. You must be wondering about how high blood pressure can affect the heart. Let us start the discussion with what blood pressure is.
Blood Pressure
Blood pressure refers to the force created by the heart when it pushes blood into the arteries and the circulatory system. The blood flows through the arteries and then into the arterioles. When the blood flows through the arterioles, they either contract or expand. This movement of contraction and expansion of arterioles is responsible for altering the amount of blood flow and resistance to blood flow.
If the arterioles remain in a contracted form, they will exert greater resistance to blood flow and this is what leads to high blood pressure. This means that the heart will have to pump harder.
Systolic And Diastolic Pressure
Blood pressure is measured as systolic and diastolic pressures. Systolic blood pressure refers to pressureof the blood when the heart beats during pumping the blood. The pressure when the heart is at the rest between the beats is called diastolic blood pressure.
Systolic blood pressure of less than 120 is considered as normal. And diastolic blood pressure of 80 is normal. Systolic blood pressure of 120 to 139 and diastolic blood pressure of 80 to 89 is called as the pre-hypertension condition. When the systolic blood pressure crosses over 140 and the diastolic blood pressure crosses over 90, it is called as high blood pressure.
Hypertension
High blood pressure is called hypertension in medical terms. High blood pressure is also referred to as a silent killer because many patients of high blood pressure show no symptoms. In fact, 1 in 3 adults in USA has high blood pressure. Many people have it for years and they are completely unaware of the fact. During this time, the high blood pressure is silently damaging your heart, kidneys and blood vessels.
Heart Disease
Let us examine how blood pressure causes heart disease. When the blood pressure is high, your heart will have to work extra hard to pump blood. This causes a lot of strain on the heart and also on the blood vessels. When the heart is forced to work harder over a period of time, it enlarges. An enlarged heart will not work efficiently and will have a tough time supplying blood and oxygen to the various parts of the body.
Over a period of time, high blood pressure will put a lot of strain on the blood vessels too. Due to this, they become hardened. This leads to hardened and narrowed arteries, a condition identified as the coronary artery disease. Narrowed arteries will be unable to supply blood and oxygen to the heart, as a result of which the heart will be further damaged.
Hardened and narrowed arteries can also lead to the formation of plaques. Plaques block the flow of blood to the heart. Furthermore, if the outer shell of a plaque breaks down, it can lead to a complete blockage of the artery. When the outer shell of the plaque breaks down, this exposes the soft inner surface. This causes the platelets to arrive on the scene and form blood clots around the plaque. This gives rise to the blockage of the artery and will eventually cause a heart attack.
So you can see now how important it is to treat high blood pressure. Since many people do not show any symptoms, the best way to find out whether you have high blood pressure or not is to get it checked. You should have your blood pressure checked regularly to ensure that you are on the safer side.
Managing Your Blood Pressure
If you find out that you have high blood pressure, there are steps that you can take to keep it under control. These are:-
• Eat low fat and low salt diet
• Exercise regularly
• Quit smoking
• Manage stress
• Lose weight if you are overweight
• Follow your doctor’s advice
Following a healthy lifestyle is the key to keeping your blood pressure under control.