High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, damages your body in several ways. When left uncontrolled, it can lead to disabilities, poor quality of life, and even death.
Here are a few of the ways chronic high blood pressure can be dangerous:
Artery Damage
Blood travels through your arteries, which supply your organs and tissues with necessary nutrients and oxygen.
Hypertension can:
- Damage and narrow your arteries
- Limit blood flow throughout your body
- Lead to an aneurysm (due to weakened arteries)
Heart Damage
Since your heart pumps blood throughout the body, high blood pressure can lead to:
- Coronary artery disease
- Chest pain and irregular heart rhythms
- Enlarged left heart
- Heart failure
- Sudden cardiac death
Brain Damage
Some of the problems high blood pressure can cause your brain includes:
- Transient ischemic attack (mini stroke)
- Blood clots
- Stroke
- Vascular dementia
- Mild cognitive impairment
Kidney Damage
The kidneys depend on healthy blood vessels to function properly. Some of the problems caused by high blood pressure include:
- Accumulation of fluid and waste
- Kidney failure
- Glomerulosclerosis (kidney scarring)
- Inability to filter waste effectively
- Kidney artery aneurysm
- Life-threatening internal bleeding
Eye Damage
Small and delicate blood vessels supply blood to your eyes. Eyes can be damaged by high blood pressure in several ways, such as:
- Retinopathy (eye blood vessel damage)
- Bleeding in the eye
- Blurred vision
- Complete loss of vision
- Choroidopathy (fluid buildup under the retina)
- Scarring that impairs vision
- Optic neuropathy (nerve damage)
- Killed nerve cells
Sexual Dysfunction
Men with high blood pressure can suffer from erectile dysfunction, while women can suffer from vaginal dryness, difficulty achieving orgasm, and a decrease in sexual desire and arousal.
Other Problems
People with high blood pressure can also suffer from other health problems such as bone loss and trouble sleeping.
The damaged caused by high blood pressure can take place over the years.
However, sometimes it can rise so quickly that immediate medical intervention is necessary.
These emergency situations can result in:
- Memory loss
- Progressive loss of consciousness
- Personality changes
- Irritability
- Concentration problems
- Stroke
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Complications in pregnant women
- Severe damage to the body’s main artery
- Heart attack
- Sudden loss of kidney function
High blood pressure leads to some of the most fatal diseases in the world.
Keep your blood pressure in check and maintain a healthy lifestyle to keep it at healthy levels.
In some cases, medication is necessary.