Is High Blood Pressure Responsible for Heart Disease?
High blood pressure and heart disease are becoming more and more common within hospitals globally. This comes as no surprise due to the correlation in the increase of the diagnosis for obesity and people being overweight. High blood pressure and heart disease are often linked, due to the consequences they have on one another. This article will look at how high blood pressure may cause heart disease.
What is high blood pressure?
High blood pressure, or ‘hypertension’ if given its correct medical name, is the name given to a condition in which the pressure and rate of blood flow through the body is too high. This can be dangerous to the regulation of blood flow and for the correct function of the vital organs around the body. As high blood pressure usually originates within the blood vessels of the heart (where the build-up of plaque or atheroma causes a
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This can be caused due to the build-up or accumulation of atheroma and therefore lead to a person suffering from atherosclerosis – the plaque build-up of LDL cholesterol which can cause the hardening (calcification) of the arteries. As the arteries harden, it becomes more difficult for the blood to flow normally; this raises the blood pressure as the fluid is squeezed and pressurized more by the walls of the artery.
Heart disease or coronary heart disease (when the coronary arteries are affected) is the term given when the blood vessels of the heart become blocked and possibly lead to a heart attack or the condition known as angina (chest pains). As high blood pressure means that the blood vessels are already under stress and are being constricted, having hypertension therefore increases your risk of developing heart disease. Due to the restriction of the arteries under high pressure, blood clots are more likely to cause a complete blockage of the blood vessel – causing a heart
Many of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease cause problems because they lead to atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the narrowing and thickening of arteries and develops for years without causing symptoms. It can happen in any part of the body. Around the heart, it is known as coronary artery disease, in the legs it is known as peripheral arterial disease. The narrowing and thickening of the arteries is due to the deposition of fatty material, cholesterol and other substances in the walls of blood vessels. The deposits are known as plaques. The rupture of a plaque can lead to stroke or a heart attack. (World Heart Federation).
Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, has become a major risk factor for several types of heart disease across the globe. In the United States alone, nearly 70 million adults have been diagnosed with this condition [1]. Hypertension is a condition in which arterial walls experience extreme force from blood flowing through; long-term force against artery walls will lead to more serious health problems such as stroke, renal failure, and other cardiovascular diseases [2]. If the proper steps to treat hypertension are not taken, patients have a high risk of developing atherosclerosis, a condition that causes arteries to harden significantly. Smoking, obesity, lack of physical activity, high alcohol consumption, and high sodium intake are factors that may cause an individual to be diagnosed with hypertension [3] Detection of hypertension is crucial in order to reduce the incidence of death by cardiovascular disease [1].
High blood pressure has many damaging effects on the heart. High blood pressure is known as a silent killer and if left untreated can cause serious damage to the heart. What causes high blood can differ from person to person. What causes this for some may be different with another. Genetics, diet, family history, weight, and use of salt are just some of the causes of high blood pressure. Some of the ways that high blood pressure damages the heart is through narrowing of the arteries in the heart, called arteriosclerosis, left ventricular hypertrophy, and restricted blood flow that can lead to strokes and heart attacks. High blood pressure can have damaging effects on the heart if left untreated, and can cause arteriosclerosis, left ventricular hypertrophy, and restricted blood flow that leads to strokes and heart attacks.
Nevertheless, there is an understandable and noticeable link between circulatory related diseases and lifestyle diseases, such as Coronary Heart Disease. Coronary heart disease can occur when fatty acids, such as cholesterol in an inadequate diet, build up in the walls of the coronary artery. These fatty deposits collect minerals and harden to become a plaque. Eventually, this plaque grows and can swells up, forming an aneurism. In some cases, this aneurism may burst leading to instant death. As it continues to grow and swell up, it finally blocks the artery completely and forms blood clots. This is known as coronary thrombosis. A myocardial infarction, or in other words as heart attack, occurs when no oxygen is able to reach the coronary artery and thus it is unable to fulfil its role in providing the heart muscle with a sufficient supply of blood. Heart attacks are very common in the society nowadays, especially occurring in smokers or obesity related diseases (Millar, June 2014)
Cardiovascular disease has reportedly been the number one disease killer for men and women in the United States of America. Every one out of four deaths is caused by heart disease in the United States alone (Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention). Heart disease refers to the different types of conditions and symptoms that can affect the one’s heart and its functions to the body (Mayo Clinic). Cardiovascular/Heart disease has many causes and conditions, prevention methods and symptoms, and treatment options.
Hypertension, defined as blood pressure readings higher than 140/90 mmHg taken on three different occasions, is one of the chronic diseases that poses major health problems to countless Americans and a major issue to almost every racial group living in the United States of America. In the simplest of words, hypertension forces the heart to pump blood harder throughout the body through blood arteries and veins. Such pumping can result in problems with the proper functioning of the heart. Hypertension does not only affect the heart. Many organs throughout the human body can get damaged due to the high pressured blood pumping towards them by the heart. Hypertension can cause the kidneys to dysfunction and also result in aneurysm. Apart from heart problems such as strokes and heart attacks, hypertension can result in the speedy aging of the human brain at a young age, which eventually results in neurotic problems as age increases.
Cigarette and tobacco smoking helps to increase ones blood pressure, it decreases ones tolerance to exercise and increase the chances of having a blood clot. Smoking also increases ones chances of having a coronary heart disease again after bypass surgery. (American Heart Association). Having too much cholesterol in the blood causes high cholesterol, also called hypercholesterolemia. When people eat too much food with high saturated fats, the blood isn’t able to carry it through the arteries. The fat then starts to buildup in the arteries, which causes a decrease in oxygen flowing to the heart this increase ones risk of having a heart attack. (Mayo Clinic Staff). High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is the amount of force is pushed against the artery walls as blood flows through them. (Medical News Today). If ones blood pressure remains high, this can damage the arteries, which leads to coronary heart disease. In order for one to live a healthy life, they must exercise; this helps strengthening the hearts muscles. Lacking exercise leads to individuals becoming obese. Being obese damages the arteries and weakens the heart. All of these risk factors are what causes individuals to be diagnosed with coronary heart disease (CHD). The image below gives a more vivid understanding of fatty deposits piling up against the artery walls.
High blood pressure AKA Hypertension is inflicting damage to the guts, kidney, and brain, despite the fact that there are not any visible indicators noticed nor the patient feels no symptoms.
The causes resulting in hypertension vary from person to person and can be extremely difficult to identify. In other words the exact causes of high blood pressure are not known, but several factors and conditions may play a role in its development, including: Smoking, Being overweight or obese, Lack of physical activity, Too much salt in the diet, Too much alcohol consumption (more than 1 to 2 drinks per day), Stress, Older age, Genetics,
The Hypertensive Heart Disease is caused due to hypertension (high blood pressure) and it manifests as a coronary artery disease,
The heart is responsible for pumping blood throughout the entire body. Uncontrolled hypertension can harm the
Heart disease caused by a blockage of the arteries to supply blood to the heart. By knowing the causes of heart disease we can do prevention at early stages, Leading causes of heart disease are as follows:
Serious health problems can be heart attack and stroke. There are two types of high blood pressure. They are primary hypertension and secondary hypertension (Mayoclinic, 2015). Primary hypertension is where they is no identifiable cause of the high blood pressure and it tends to develop gradually over many years. Secondary hypertension is where the high blood pressure is caused by a underlying condition. This will appear suddenly and the blood pressure will be higher than with primary hypertension. Some factors to cause hypertension are age (men about age 45, women after 65), race (blacks will develop at an earlier age than white people), family history, being overweight or obese, not being physically active, smoking, too much salt in your diet, too little potassium and vitamin D in your diet and drinking too much alcohol, stress and chronic conditions (kidney disease, diabetes, sleep apnea, pregnancy) (Mayoclinic,
Hypertension is commonly known as high blood pressure. What does it mean to have high blood pressure? Blood pressure can be defined as the amount of blood the heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in the arteries. It is when the systolic reading is greater than 140 and the diastolic is greater than 90. Systolic is blood pressure when the heart contracts while diastolic is the time when the heart is relaxed. Primary care physicians are accustomed to seeing cases of hypertension. However this common diagnosis can lead to more serious illnesses such as chronic kidney disease, stroke, heart attack, aneurysm, peripheral artery disease, and even death (Tipton & Sullivan, 2014).
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) can be defined as a particular disease, which affects the heart and all the functioning parts around it as well. Cardiovascular disease is one of the top leading causes of deaths in the United States. This particular type of disease affects the supply of blood to the rest of the human body, in addition to the muscles within the heart as well. However, this particular disease is comprised of a group of over 60 different disorders of the heart and/or blood vessels within an individuals entire body. The most common forms of cardiovascular disease (CVD) include heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke. Many of the cause of this disease are things that individuals are unable to control. For example, two of these