: By We all have heard or read many news articles dedicated to so many young celebrities who have died because of heart attacks in recent years. One of the major causes behind heart attack is high blood pressure. High blood pressure or hypertension is a chronic disease predominantly used to occur in the elderly people only but in recent times it has become very common in the young adults also. This has created an interest as well a ruckus among the people about its causes, effects and prevention. In this blog we will discuss hypertension, its causes, effects, prevention and treatments in detail.
Knowing about Hypertension
When the pressure pushing the blood through the blood vessels is 140/90mmHg or higher, the condition is known as hypertension. This condition directly affects our heart as the heart has to put more effort into pumping blood which creates difficulty in circulation of blood through the blood vessels. Heart, kidney and brain are the main organs which directly get affected due to hypertension. Uncontrolled blood pressure can cause organ failure, resulting in death.
Causes Of Hypertension In Young Adults
Unlike the popular belief, hypertension can affect young adults also. Age factor is not only the main reason for high blood pressure but there are many other reasons for high blood pressure, which were recently discovered by the experts. Some of them are mentioned below.
- Genetics Or Family History: If a child has a family history of hypertension they are at a higher risk of developing hypertension naturally. As we all know genes carry characteristics from parents to their offsprings. It also tends to carry some diseases with them hypertension is one of those diseases.
- Unhealthy Lifestyle: The new age lifestyle consisting of sedentary lifestyle such as sitting in the same posture for a long period or doing very less physical work, consuming processed food, high sodium intake and low potassium levels plays a major role in high blood pressure levels.
- Prolonged Anxiety Or Stress: As the world is developing, it is constantly creating a high stress environment around young adults which takes a toll on their cardiovascular health. Prolonged anxiety stimulates the release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which compresses the blood vessels and creates a rise in blood pressure.
- Poor Sleep Quality: According to the experts a proper sleep of minimum 8 hours in a day is a must for overall health and wellbeing. However many young adults face difficulty in sleep or sometimes insomnia which affects their health and can be a major reason behind the increase of blood pressure levels in them.
- Addiction: Now-a-days consumption of alcohol, cigarettes and illegal drugs has become common among this generation. Which can give rise to hypertension in young adults. Excessive consumption of alcohol can raise blood pressure levels, while smoking cigarettes can cause hardening or narrowing of arteries.
- Medical Conditions: Medical conditions such as kidney disease, thyroid and obstructive sleep apnea can also be a reason for the development of hypertension in young adults.
Symptoms
Most of the people with hypertension do not feel any symptoms, only the people with very high blood pressure experience symptoms such as:
- Severe Headache: A very high strike in the blood pressure level can cause the patient to suffer a sudden and severe headache and they may face unconsciousness also.
- Chest Pain: very high blood pressure levels compresses the arteries causing the heart to take more efforts to pump blood making the patient experience a sudden shooting pain in their chest.
- Dizziness: The inner ear in our body helps to maintain the body balance; high blood pressure damages the blood vessels in the ear which creates a sudden feeling of dizziness. You can also face blurred vision and buzzing in the ears.
- Difficulty in Breathing: In the case of hypertension your heart has to work extra to pump blood which causes you to difficulty in breathing and palpitation.
- Nausea and Vomiting: Nausea and vomiting is one of the major symptoms of very high level of blood pressure.
- Anxiety or Stress: In case of higher blood pressure anxiety and stress is the foremost symptoms that can be seen.
- Nosebleeds: Sometimes people also experience nosebleeds in case of hypertension.
Diagnoses
You cannot decide whether you have hypertension or not by just one single reading. You have to consult a health specialist who will monitor you for several hours or several days for the confirmation. Mentioned here are some tests to check for the cause.
- Abulatory Monitoring: When doctors monitor your blood pressure at regular times with special machineries for over 6 hours or 24 hours, this process is known as ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.
- Lab Tests: Blood and urine test are some common lab tests to check your heart health, kidney’s condition, cholesterol and blood sugar level. These tests are done to know the cause that can worsen the condition.
- Electrocardiogram (ECG): Through this quick and painless method a doctor can check your heart health by getting your heart’s electrical activity printed on a paper by which they can learn how your heart is working.
- Echocardiogram: In this non-invasive process sound waves are used to show the detailed images of a functioning heart so that your heart health can be monitored easily.
Treatment Options
High blood pressure is an incurable chronic disease but can be controlled by the following treatments.
- Change in Lifestyle: By eating healthy food items and avoiding junk food can help in controlling blood pressure levels. Physical exercise and leaving substance abuse can also help combat hypertension.
- Medications: medications such as diuretics, ACE inhibitors, ARBs, calcium channel blocker and beta blockers can be a great help to maintain blood pressure levels.
- Regular Monitoring: Regular check-ups and blood pressure monitoring is a must to check the progress and adjust treatment as needed.
- Treating Underlying Conditions: If high blood pressure is caused due to an underlying condition such as kidney or hormonal disorder then treating them may help in lower blood sugar levels.
- Ayurveda: Ayurvedic blood pressure capsules such as hyper care BP capsules which is a blend of natural herbs like jatamansi, bramhi and arjun chhal which helps to control your blood pressure levels naturally without any side effects.
Conclusion
While summing up we have come to the conclusion that hypertension is a very common chronic disease in young adults. It is impossible to cure it permanently but it can be manageable with the help of regular check-ups, medications, ayurvedic blood pressure capsules, regular exercise, quitting substance abuse and some dietary changes.
- Supports maintains normal blood pressure level.
- Helps to improve heart health.
- May reduces the risk of stroke and cardiovascular diseases.
