【Health Lecture】High blood pressure is more dangerous than you think

In order to ensure the scientific effect of learning health knowledge in the "2024 China Senior Health Knowledge Competition", the organizer has collected various health science articles suitable for the elderly from various hospitals. We will share them through the "Health Lecture" column. Today, Wang Lingyan, a teacher at Wuhan Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Orthopedic Hospital, brought us: "Hypertension is more dangerous than you think", and welcome elderly friends to learn.

With the improvement of living standards and changes in lifestyles, more and more people around us are suffering from high blood pressure. We generally believe that too high blood pressure may cause blood vessel rupture, which is medically known as cerebral hemorrhage. Therefore, as long as the blood pressure is controlled to prevent blood vessels from rupturing, there will be no other harm. In fact, cerebral hemorrhage is only one of the hazards of high blood pressure. If blood pressure is not well controlled, it will cause damage to the heart, brain, kidneys and other organs throughout the body.

In daily life, some people with high blood pressure measure their blood pressure every day, take medicine on time, pay attention to diet and exercise every day to keep their blood pressure within a reasonable range. There are also a large number of people who never measure their blood pressure. They only measure it once when they have symptoms such as headaches, and only take medicine when they find that their blood pressure is too high. So do these two methods have the same consequences? The answer is definitely different. The former can effectively reduce complications, while the latter may not be harmful at the moment, but it will cause great harm to the body in the long run. Let's understand the specific harms from a scientific perspective.

1. Damage of high blood pressure to the heart Long-term high blood pressure can have an adverse effect on the heart. In severe cases, it may even prevent a person from working and living normally. Long-term high blood pressure can cause the heart to become thickened. Excessive heart hypertrophy may impair the heart's contraction and relaxation functions, leading to heart failure. Continuous high blood pressure can weaken heart function and increase the risk of heart failure. Heart failure can cause difficulty breathing, fatigue, and edema. If high blood pressure is too severe, it can increase the risk of arrhythmias, and atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia may occur.

2. Hypertension damages cerebral blood vessels. Hypertensive patients may be at risk of cerebrovascular accidents. If they have sequelae such as hemiplegia and language disorders, they will cause harm to themselves and their families. They will need the care of their family members and their own efforts to recover, which will seriously affect their quality of life. Hypertension may cause stroke. If the stroke is discovered and treated in time and the lesion is small, there is a high chance of recovery. If the lesion is large, the above sequelae will occur. If it is not well controlled, there will be a risk of recurrence. The higher the blood pressure of hypertensive patients, the greater the probability of stroke.

3. Hypertension damages the kidneys. Long-term hypertension may cause urine protein, renal failure, etc. When it comes to renal failure, many people think of dialysis, which shows that hypertension is extremely harmful. If blood pressure cannot be effectively controlled for a long time and remains at a high value, it will affect the absorption function of the renal tubules and form urine protein; hypertension can lead to renal insufficiency. If blood pressure continues to rise to the point of malignant hypertension, it will cause further ischemia and hypoxia in the kidneys, inducing renal failure.

4. Damage of high blood pressure to the eyes People who have poor blood pressure control for a long time may experience symptoms such as blurred vision, double vision, decreased vision, and severe cases may lead to blindness. Long-term high blood pressure can cause retinal artery spasm, occlusion, stenosis, and severe cases may cause retinal blood vessel bleeding and retinal detachment. If the blood pressure rises suddenly and the choroidal blood vessels rupture, blind spots will appear in the vision.

5. Damage to the limbs caused by high blood pressure. Many people with high blood pressure will feel cold hands, feet and limbs. We often think that it is because we don’t wear enough clothes, but we don’t know that it is caused by high blood pressure. Severe hypertension can cause atherosclerosis of the limbs, and atherosclerosis is more common in the lower limbs, so people with cold lower limbs are more common. 6. Damage to digestive function. Many people will have symptoms such as indigestion, constipation, and abdominal pain. This may also be caused by high blood pressure-induced atherosclerosis of the mesenteric artery. In severe cases, when thrombosis and necrosis are formed, fever, bloody stools, severe abdominal pain and even shock will occur. It is currently autumn, which is the peak period for hypertension. The obvious alternation of cold and hot may cause vascular spasm, resulting in greater fluctuations in blood pressure. People with hypertension should go to the hospital to adjust the dosage and time of antihypertensive drugs in time, take them regularly on time, monitor blood pressure every day, and control blood pressure steadily within a reasonable range;

As the temperature turns cooler in autumn, the appetite improves, and many patients may not be able to resist eating some greasy food. Try to eat more lean meat, chicken, fish, etc., and try not to eat pork belly and fried foods. At the same time, eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, such as celery, fungus, bananas, apples, pears, etc., eat more coarse grains such as cereals, and eat less processed foods; patients with hypertension should pay special attention to salt intake, the daily salt intake should be less than a beer bottle cap, so do not eat pickled foods such as pickles; pay attention to adding or removing clothes when doing outdoor sports, patients with poor blood pressure control should not engage in strenuous physical exercise, patients with good blood pressure control can choose to take a walk after a meal, slow walking, Tai Chi and other exercises, and can gradually increase the intensity and time of exercise.

To sum up, if the blood pressure of a hypertensive patient remains high for a long time, it will cause great harm to the whole body system, so everyone should start with lifestyle and diet, and at the same time insist on taking medication and measuring blood pressure regularly, control blood pressure within a reasonable range, reduce the damage caused by high blood pressure to various organs, and enjoy a healthy life!

Author: Wang Lingyan

Image: Qianku.com

About the Author

Wang Lingyan, deputy chief physician, works at Wuhan Orthopedic Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine (affiliated hospital of Wuhan Institute of Physical Education), and is a part-time associate professor at Hubei University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She is a young member of the third committee of the Precision Medicine Branch of the Chinese Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and a member of the Endocrine and Metabolism Professional Committee of the Hubei Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners. She has been engaged in clinical professional and technical work in internal medicine (geriatrics) for more than 20 years and has accumulated rich clinical experience. In particular, she has published many papers on the diagnosis and treatment of coronary heart disease, acute myocardial infarction, hypertensive emergencies, heart failure, arrhythmias and other diseases.