Hypertension is a dangerous medical phenomenon in Israel and in the world. What is hypertension? What are the causes of high blood pressure? What can hypertension cause? How high is blood pressure? And how can hypertension be prevented? High blood pressure – often referred to as hypertension – is a serious condition that affects millions of people worldwide. Hypertension is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in the world. Fortunately, there are many things we can do to reduce our risk of developing high blood pressure.
It is important to remember that in any case where you suffer from a medical problem, including high blood pressure, first of all contact a specialist doctor in order to receive a comprehensive diagnosis and advice. Only after receiving a diagnosis of the relevant factors of the high blood pressure will it be possible to adapt the relevant treatment to the patient and his condition specifically.
What causes high blood pressure?
High blood pressure is caused by a number of factors, including lifestyle choices and genetics. Some of the most common causes of high blood pressure include:
- Obesity and overweight: Being overweight or obese puts extra strain on the heart and blood vessels. This in turn leads to higher blood pressure.
- Poor nutrition: Poor nutrition and eating too much processed and fried food can increase the risk of high blood pressure.
- Lack of physical activity: exercise benefits the body in a variety of aspects. Regular exercise can help lower blood pressure. A sedentary lifestyle and lack of sufficient physical activity increases the risk of high blood pressure.
- Smoking: smoking has various damages and affects our body in many negative ways. As for high blood pressure it has been proven that smoking can damage the walls of your arteries, leading to higher blood pressure.
- Stress and mental stress, stress and emotional distress: Stress can cause blood pressure to rise temporarily and damage the health of the mind and body.
- Genetic factors: some people are more likely to develop high blood pressure than others due to genetics – heredity.
What can hypertension cause?
High blood pressure causes damage to our body in a variety of ways. How is high blood pressure harmful? What can hypertension cause? How does excess blood pressure negatively affect our body? High blood pressure puts extra strain on the heart and blood vessels. This overload can lead to several serious health problems. Therefore, and as proven in studies, over time, high blood pressure may lead to these and other problems:
- Damage to your heart and increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.
- Kidney damage and increased risk of kidney disease due to excess blood pressure.
- Damage to the eyes and increasing the risk of vision loss.
- Damage to arteries and increased risk of aneurysm.
- Negative effects on sexual function
- Brain damage and decline in cognitive abilities including dementia.
How to prevent high blood pressure?
Despite the many risk factors and the various causes of high blood pressure, we can prevent the phenomenon. There are several ways in which a person can reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure. As mentioned, a specialist should be consulted for diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Some of the ways to prevent and treat high blood pressure that doctors usually recommend to different patients are:
- Eating a healthy diet low in salt and saturated fat.
- Ensure regular physical activity.
- Avoid smoking cigarettes and tobacco products.
- Limit your alcohol intake.
- Reduce mental stress and regulate the stress level.
- maintain a healthy weight.
Choosing a healthy lifestyle will help reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure and can save lives. If you suffer from high blood pressure it is important to contact a specialist doctor for diagnosis, advice and treatment. The doctor will help identify all the causes of the excess blood pressure and together create a plan that will help lower the blood pressure and reduce the risk of serious health problems.