Hypertension is a disease associated with a periodic or constant increase in blood pressure (blood pressure).For some people, increased pressure is the norm, but this is an exception to the rules, and the mentioned indicators for most people are pathological.
The causes and mechanism of the development of hypertension
In a healthy person, the pressure is normal about 120/80 mm Hg.Art.At the physiological and chemical levels, increasing pressure is a natural reaction of the body to any danger or stress.In a critical situation, adrenaline is thrown into the blood, the heart begins to work faster, the vessels narrow, the muscles contract, and the pressure rises.

Regular stress, experiences, lack of sleep, problems - all this can lead to a chronic increase in pressure.However, doctors also call other causes of hypertension: heredity, overweight or obesity, disorders in the thyroid gland, kidneys, magnesium deficiency in the body, taking some drugs.
The pathogenesis of hypertension is not completely clarified.The hemodynamic basis for increasing blood pressure is an increased arterioral tone due to nervous impulses coming from the central nervous system along the sympathetic pathways.
In addition to the neurogenic mechanism, other mechanisms that increase blood pressure, in particular humoral, can also be turned on (sequentially) humoral.
The renal factor associated with acuteous ischemia is also important.The inclusion of the renal factor contributes to the development of high and stable blood pressure.The well -known role in the complex pathogenetic mechanism of the hypertension is played by hormones of the cortical layer of the adrenal glands.
Thus, two groups of factors can be distinguished in the mechanism for increasing blood pressure in hypertension: neurogenic, which have through the sympathetic nervous system a direct effect on the tone of arterioles, and humoral, associated with the enhanced secretion of catecholamines and some other biologically active substances that cause a pressing effect.
The mechanism of development of hypertension is complicated.Many organs and systems are involved in it.The degree of damage to various organs for hypertension can be unequal, therefore, several clinical and anatomical variants of hypertension are distinguished: with a predominant damage to the vessels of the kidneys, heart and brain.
Symptoms
Arterial pressure is blood pressure, which depends on the constant shocks of the heart that performs its pump function.It gives about 70-90 abbreviations per minute.By measuring blood pressure, we take into account two digits: systolic pressure (at the moment of contraction of the heart muscle) and diastolic pressure (at the time of its relaxation).Arterial hypertension is commonly called a pressure rise above 140 by 90, respectively.
With increased pressure, a number of such features are usually observed:
- headaches, noise in the ears;
- visual disorders;
- dizziness;
- absent -mindedness;
- Memory deterioration;
- drowsiness;
- instability of blood pressure;
- nausea;
- chills;
- swelling of the eyelids, puffiness of the face in the morning;
- heart beating of the heart;
- chills, sweating, pulsation in the head;
- redness of the face, internal tension, anxiety, irritability;
- decrease in performance;
- swelling of the limbs, numbness of the fingers;
- Pain in the heart.
If any of these symptoms are observed from time to time, this is not an evidence of increased pressure.But if you notice the chronic presence of signs, consult a doctor.
The most common sign indicating the disease is headache.The second most important symptom of increased pressure is problems with visual perception:
- Dangling in the eyes;
- inexplication of objects;
- decrease in peripheral vision;
- bouts of blindness;
- fog in front of my eyes;
- Reducing the reaction to light.

Hypertension and hypertension: What is the difference?
Hypertension is a chronic disease with prolonged and persistent high blood pressure, and hypertension is a persistent increase in blood pressure (that is, not a diagnosis, but the condition of the body).In fact, these terms are one and the same, only the first denotes the name of the disease, and the second - states the fact of increasing blood pressure.
Hypertension hypertension is characterized by current features.While hypertension is an independent disease, arterial hypertension is a symptom of a pathological state, which manifests itself precisely in a persistent increase in pressure.
Thus, to say that this is one and the same, it is possible only in the case of a hypertensive crisis.The crisis itself is characterized by a steady increase in pressure (hypertension) and at the same time occurs due to hypertension.
Stages of hypertension
To doctors for the correct diagnosis, it is necessary to determine the stage of hypertension in the patient and make an appropriate record in his medical card.If hypertension is diagnosed in the patient late, that is, at the 2nd or 3rd stage, then the consequences for the patient’s body will be more serious than if the treatment of hypertension began at the first stage.Nevertheless, few patients with hypertension at the initial stage turn to a doctor or at least regularly measures blood pressure.
The first stage
140-150/90 mm Hg.Art.When arterial pressure fluctuates within these limits, the patient is diagnosed with the first (light) degree of hypertension.Hypertonic crises rarely occur, the disease is not a minor.
The second stage
160-170/100-109 mm Hg.Art.- The second (moderate) degree of hypertension.Hypertonic crises are typical.The narrowing of the retinal arteries, hypertrophy of the left ventricle are objectively recorded.
The third stage
200-300/129 mm Hg.Art.And above.Severe hypertensive crises (very severe form of hypertension) often develop.The damaging effect causes hypertensive encephalopathy, levo -ventricular deficiency, the development of brain vessels, hemorrhoids and edema of the optic nerve, and renal failure, and renal failure.
Why is hypertension dangerous?
Doctors argue that the consequences of hypertension are threatening for life than AIDS, cancer and tuberculosis combined.The insidiousness of this disease is that its symptoms are similar to signs of ordinary overwork.Therefore, about half of the hypertension about their illness will learn too late when it is very difficult to treat it and it is almost impossible to stop the processes of destruction of the body that it launched.
The danger of hypertension is that it begins as a violation of the functions of regulating blood pressure, but in the future leads to many serious diseases of internal organs and systems, in particular to cardiovascular ailments.A hypertension, which occurs without medical control, can lead to a heart attack, an increase in the heart and, ultimately, to heart failure.
The consequences of hypertension are especially dangerous for those who have harmful factors to the murderous effect on the body of increased blood pressure - smoking, drinking alcohol, unhealthy nutrition, sedentary lifestyle, frequent stress, high level of cholesterol in the body and diabetes.Such people increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and renal failure, blindness and various cognitive disorders - memory reduction, intelligence and performance.

Hypertension is a killer No. 1 among all cardiovascular diseases.Mortality from it over the past 25 years has grown from 98 to 107 people per 100 thousand people.This is a noticeable growth.50% of patients are treated quite efficiently, but only 10% reach the target level of blood pressure, that is, below 130 by 80.
Which doctor is engaged in treatment?
With increased pressure, you should go to a specialist.The therapist conducts a preliminary examination of the patient, takes the necessary tests and determines which doctor to turn further.This feature is explained by the fact that the therapist is a specialist in several areas of medicine at once.
Having completed a preliminary inspection, the doctor issues a referral for inspection of other specialists:
- neurologist;
- cardiologist;
- nephrologist;
- Okulist;
- endocrinologist.
Diagnostics
The easiest diagnostic method is the measurement of blood pressure.If there is a stable increase to 140/90 mm Hg.Art.And above, this means that there is hypertension.
Increased pressure is considered stable during repeated measurements (at least 2-3 times on different days for 4 weeks).
The following diagnostic methods are also used to determine the presence of hypertension:
- urine analysis for protein and glucose;
- on hemoglobin or hematocrit;
- determination of the level of creatinine or an increase in nitrogen in the blood and urine;
- glucose level during starvation;
- electrocardiogram;
- Ultrasound of the heart, kidneys;
- Consultation of an optometrist with a study of bloody bottom vessels.
Measurement of blood pressure
Measurement of blood pressure with a manual tonometer (Korotkov method):
- The tonometer cuff should be at the heart level (middle of the chest) 2 cm above the elbow.A finger should pass between the Nemple Cuff and the hand.The cuff should cover at least 80% of the shoulder circumference and at least 40% of its length.
- Place the phonondoscope membrane on the point of pulsation of the shoulder artery.
- Quickly pump up air into the cuff with a pear (do not forget to close the valve in advance) so that the air does not go back to the upper pressure level, 20 mm Hg.Art.exceeding systolic (according to the disappearance of the pulse).
- Slowly release air from a cuff at a speed of 2 mm Hg.Art.in sec.The first blow heard corresponds to the value of the upper pressure.The level of tone stops corresponds to the lower pressure.If the tones are very weak, you should raise your hand, bend and straighten it several times, and repeat the measurement.
Blood and urine tests
A general blood test or urine test for hypertension will not be informative.It is impossible to determine the cause of the disease by such indicators, but they help to find out the stage of the disease.
From a general blood test, you can learn about the number of forms, as well as evaluate the presence of inflammatory processes in the body.

Assessment of the work of the heart
There are several methods for evaluating the work of the heart:
- Physical diagnosis involves the study of the heart muscle with the help of a phonondoscope.The doctor "listens" to the heart, reveals noise, rhythm disturbance.Based on the results of physical diagnostics, ECG is prescribed.
- ECG (electrocardiogram) is also an assessment of the work of the heart muscle, only more detailed.Such a study allows you to identify possible changes in time and fully analyze the work of the heart for a certain period of time.
- Dopplerography is an effective ultrasound examination that helps determine the condition of blood passing through the vessels.
- Arteriography is a radiological method that assesses the condition of the arterial walls, reveals atheromatous plaques, defects of the arteries.
Inspection of the eye bottom
Eyes, like the heart, are considered a target organ with hypertension, therefore, when diagnosing increased pressure, an eye on the ifalmologist is examined.As a rule, with hypertension, at the initial stage, the retinal veins and the narrowing of the artery are expanding.These functional changes are reversible: with normalization of pressure, blood vessels also return to normal.
In the second stage, organic changes occur, the condition worsens.Microanevrisms appear, hemorrhage can happen.
At the third stage, the condition of the optic nerve changes, the acuity and field of view deteriorate, visual functions are disrupted.
Ultrasound
By ultrasound of the kidneys and adrenal glands, the work of the kidneys is evaluated.Due to increased pressure in the organs, nephrons die-cells that daily filter blood liters from toxins.In the end, this can lead to renal failure.
An ultrasound of the kidneys helps to identify volumetric formations in the adrenal glands, severe lesions of the renal tissue.An ultrasound of the renal arteries is also prescribed.
How to treat hypertension?
Non -drug methods:
- decrease in body weight to normal;
- Refusal of smoking;
- decrease in alcoholic beverages;
- moderate physical activity (regular walks in the fresh air);
- reduction in salt consumption;
- an increase in the diet of plant foods rich in calcium, magnesium and potassium;
- Reducing the consumption of animal fats.
Medicinal therapy is prescribed if non -valley methods have no effect, or the patient has risk factors for the development of diabetes, hypertensive crisis, kidney damage, and coronary atherosclerosis.
Drugs
The development of drugs for hypertension has been going on for more than a dozen years.But today, the problem of the development of new, more effective and safe means of reducing and controlling pressure is still acutely of medicine and pharmacology.
Today there is a widest assortment of such drugs, but all of them differ in the type of exposure, efficiency, indications and contraindications.Their cost plays an important role.Therefore, for each patient, the doctor selects an individual scheme of drug treatment of hypertension, based primarily on the causes of its occurrence:
- Diuretics.These drugs partially block calcium channels, having a vasodilating effect.They are recommended if there are vascular diseases at the same time as hypertension, but the means are contraindicated for people who have undergone myocardial infarction.
- ACE inhibitors (angiotenzinzinoprofing enzyme).Reduce the production of an enzyme that stimulates a decrease in the elasticity of blood vessels.They are very effective, well tolerated by patients with hypertension, favorably affect the cardiovascular system.They are often recommended after a myocardial infarction, as well as with increased pressure against the background of diabetes.
- Beta-adrenosaers.Reduce heart rate and reduce their strength.They have a wide range of application and are recommended for angina pectoris, tachycardia, after a heart attack, against the background of heart failure.
- Medicines for emergency pressure reduction.This includes the extract of motherwort, valerian, peony root.
Diet
A special product for hypertension is baked potatoes.This product is rich in potassium-the most important trace element that regulates water-salt metabolism in the body.
The main nutrition elements for hypertension are potassium, calcium, magnesium.It is these trace elements that greatly contribute to a decrease in blood pressure.
The diet for hypertension implies the rejection of fast food products, which are usually overloaded with sodium, and it helps to increase pressure.In addition, the diet should be saturated with products, also rich in calcium and magnesium:
- grain - bread, rice, wheat of solid varieties;
- dried fruits and sheet vegetables;
- low -fat meat and poultry;
- low -fat dairy products;
- Nuts and legumes.
Treat with great caution to fatty foods, as well as sweets.
Doctors claim that compliance with a diet helps to maintain pressure within normal limits and thereby reduces the risk of strokes by almost 40%, and heart attacks by 30%.
Life
All patients with blood pressure indicators are higher than 120-130 by 80-64 mm Hg.Art.You need to urgently change the familiar way of life and nutrition for them.This consists in limiting smoking and drinking alcohol, proper compilation of a full -fledged diet, physical exercises.
A healthy lifestyle for hypertension, as with any chronic disease, is one of the main factors of effective treatment.Therefore, changes are considered a critical step in the process of treatment, as well as the prevention of arterial hypertension.
Folk remedies
Most patients with hypertension take special drugs, but you can also fight the disease with the help of well -known folk remedies.Consider a few effective recipes:
- Flax seeds.They contain a large amount of fatty acids of the Omega-3 group.They contribute to an increase in the level of lipoproteins of increased density in the blood, which is a prevention of increase in cholesterol and the formation of atherosclerotic complications on the walls of blood vessels.The body cannot itself synthesize this substance, so it is important to ensure that it comes with food.In flax seeds, the amount of omega-3 is 25% of the weight plus they are relatively inexpensive and well absorbed.Take linen seeds of 3 tablespoons per day in chopped form.
- Tincture of red pine cones.Helps to normalize blood pressure and adjust post -states.The tincture is prepared like this:
- Gather raw materials in the summer months, rinse under running water and pour into a liter jar;
- Pour vodka or 40-degree alcohol, then put in a dark place;
- insist 2-3 weeks at room temperature;
- Before you start taking, strain through gauze, doubled.
- Properly prepared tincture should be dark red.Take 3 times a day half an hour before meals on a teaspoon.You can mix with water or tea.
- Garlic.If you take garlic regularly, this stimulates the blood flow in the vessels, prevents the deposition on their walls of oxidative degid degradation.Close -eyed scrambled properties of garlic help to prevent blood clots.The constant use of garlic cloves helps to lower blood pressure by 7-8%.
- Two garlic teeth are thinly chopped and pour a glass of boiled water;
- let it brew 12 hours;
- In the morning, drink and prepare a new infusion.
- The course is a month.Take a glass twice a day.
- Lemon with cranberries and honey.Grate the lemon and mix the spoon with a spoonful of cranberries.Add half a tablespoon of a ground fresh rosehip, a glass of honey and take one tablespoon of the product in the morning and evening.
- Plantain.Take 4 tablespoons of crushed plantain leaves.Pour one glass of vodka and let the composition brew for two weeks in a dark place.Strain the mixture and use 30 drops three times a day.

You can also cook garlic infusion:
Forecast
The prognosis for hypertension in the sense of absolute recovery is usually unfavorable.Only in the transistor stage is the complete cessation of the further development of the disease possible.However, modern treatment methods allow you to slow down the progression of the disease, prevent the development of complications, alleviate the condition of the patients and maintain their ability to work for a long time.
The forecast for the renal variant of the course is very unfavorable, especially when the kidney arteriolosclerosis develops.The forecast is worsened by the accession of atherosclerosis at any stage of hypertension.
Prevention measures for hypertension
The prevention of hypertension is divided into primary and secondary.Primary prevention needs healthy - those whose pressure does not yet exceed normal numbers.The complex of healing measures below will help not only for many years to keep the pressure normal, but also to get rid of excess weight and significantly improve overall well -being:
- low -salt diet;
- limitation of animal fats;
- exercise;
- psychological unloading;
- rejection of bad habits;
- weight control.
Secondary measures are aimed at holding blood pressure within the norm in hypertensive patients, the exclusion of hypertensive crises, and preventing complications of the disease.Secondary prevention-the inclusion of psychological trainings that contribute to moral and emotional unloading, physiotherapy procedures, treatment in sanatoriums, the use of sedatives that improve sleep, the use of traditional medicine (hawthorn, peony, valerian, motherwort) and daily control of pressure indicators.
If you pay attention to hypertension in a timely manner and start treating it, you can avoid serious consequences.Problems with pressure are solved not only through drugs, but to a greater extent due to a healthy and correct lifestyle and control of their health.