If you are diagnosed with high blood pressure, talk with your health care team about your blood pressure levels and how these levels affect your treatment plan. Show
What are the signs and symptoms of high blood pressure?High blood pressure usually has no warning signs or symptoms, and many people do not know they have it. Measuring your blood pressure is the only way to know whether you have high blood pressure. What causes high blood pressure?High blood pressure usually develops over time. It can happen because of unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as not getting enough regular physical activity. Certain health conditions, such as diabetes and having obesity, can also increase the risk for developing high blood pressure. High blood pressure can also happen during pregnancy. You can manage your blood pressure to lower your risk for serious health problems that may affect your heart, brain, kidneys, and eyes. What problems does high blood pressure cause?High blood pressure can damage your health in many ways. It can seriously hurt important organs like your heart, brain, kidneys, and eyes. The good news is that, in most cases, you can manage your blood pressure to lower your risk for serious health problems. Heart Attack and Heart DiseaseHigh blood pressure can damage your arteries by making them less elastic, which decreases the flow of blood and oxygen to your heart and leads to heart disease. In addition, decreased blood flow to the heart can cause:
Stroke and Brain ProblemsHigh blood pressure can cause the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the brain to burst or be blocked, causing a stroke. Brain cells die during a stroke because they do not get enough oxygen. Stroke can cause serious disabilities in speech, movement, and other basic activities. A stroke can also kill you. Having high blood pressure, especially in midlife, is linked to having poorer cognitive function and dementia later in life. Learn more about the link between high blood pressure and dementia from the National Institutes of Health’s Mind Your Risks® campaign. Kidney DiseaseAdults with diabetes, high blood pressure, or both have a higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease than those without these conditions. How do I know if I have high blood pressure?There’s only one way to know if you have high blood pressure: Have a doctor or other health professional measure it. Measuring your blood pressure is quick and painless. Talk with your health care team about regularly measuring your blood pressure at home, also called self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) monitoring. High blood pressure is called the “silent killer” because it usually has no warning signs or symptoms, and many people do not know they have it. What can I do to prevent or manage high blood pressure?Many people with high blood pressure can lower their blood pressure into a healthy range or keep their numbers in a healthy range by making lifestyle changes. Talk with your health care team about
Learn more about ways to manage and prevent high blood pressure. In addition to making positive lifestyle changes, some people with high blood pressure need to take medicine to manage their blood pressure. Learn more about medicines for high blood pressure. Talk with your health care team right away if you think you have high blood pressure or if you’ve been told you have high blood pressure but do not have it under control. By taking action to lower your blood pressure, you can help protect yourself against heart disease and stroke, also sometimes called cardiovascular disease (CVD). Learn MoreA heart attack (myocardial infarction or MI) is a serious medical emergency in which the supply of blood to the heart is suddenly blocked, usually by a blood clot. A heart attack is a medical emergency. Call 999 and ask for an ambulance if you suspect a heart attack. A lack of blood to the heart may seriously damage the heart
muscle and can be life threatening. Symptoms of a heart attack can include: The chest pain is often severe, but some people may only experience minor
pain, similar to indigestion. While the most common symptom in both men and women is chest pain, women are more likely to have other symptoms such as shortness of breath, feeling or being sick and back or jaw pain. Call 999 immediately if you think someone might be having a heart attack. The faster you act, the better their chances. While
waiting for an ambulance, it may help to chew and then swallow a tablet of aspirin (ideally 300mg), as long as the person having a heart attack is not allergic to aspirin. Aspirin helps to thin the blood and improves blood flow to the heart. In hospital, treatment for a heart attack depends on how serious it is. The 2 main treatments are:
Causes of a heart attackCoronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of heart attacks. CHD is a condition in which the major blood vessels that supply the heart get clogged with deposits of cholesterol, known as plaques. Before a heart attack, 1 of the plaques bursts (ruptures), causing a blood clot to develop at the site of the rupture. The clot may block the supply of blood to the heart, triggering a heart attack. Recovering from a heart attackThe time it takes to recover from a heart attack will depend on the amount of damage to your heart muscle. Most people can return to work after having a heart attack. Some people are well enough to return to work after 2 weeks. Other people may take several months to recover. How quickly you can go back to work depends on your health, the state of your heart and the type of work you do. The recovery process aims to:
Find out more about recovering from a heart attack Complications of a heart attackComplications of a heart attack can be serious and possibly life threatening. These include:
These complications can happen quickly after a heart attack and are a leading cause of death. Many people die suddenly from a complication of a heart attack before reaching hospital or within the 1st month after a heart attack. The outlook often depends on:
Find out more about complications of a heart attack Preventing a heart attackThere are 5 main steps you can take to reduce your risk of having a heart attack (or having another heart attack):
Video: heart attackThis video explores the symptoms, surgical treatments and importance of reducing risk factors for a heart attack. Media last reviewed: 16 April 2021 Page last reviewed: 28 November 2019 What are the 4 signs of an impending heart attack?What are the symptoms of heart attack?. Chest pain or discomfort. ... . Feeling weak, light-headed, or faint. ... . Pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck, or back.. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms or shoulders.. Shortness of breath.. How do you rule out a heart attack?Tests to diagnose a heart attack include:. Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG). This first test done to diagnose a heart attack records electrical signals as they travel through the heart. ... . Blood tests. ... . Chest X-ray. ... . Echocardiogram. ... . Coronary catheterization (angiogram). ... . Cardiac CT or MRI .. |