Arterial hypertension is represented by increases in systolic blood pressure above 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure above 90 mmHg.
What are the symptoms of high blood pressure?
The diagnosis of arterial hypertension
What is hypertension
Arterial hypertension is represented by increases in systolic blood pressure above 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure above 90 mmHg.
Why does the condition occur?
The increase in blood pressure values above the maximum allowed limits is most often due to specific endocrine or organ pathologies, the use of drugs (cocaine, LSD) or can be triggered during pregnancy (eclampsia, preeclampsia). Depending on the clinical forms it takes, hypertension can be classified as follows:
- Essential hypertension
- Secondary hypertension due to renal, endocrine (primary hyperaldosteronism), neurogenic, and cardiovascular causes
- HTN refractory to the applied treatment methods
- Malignant hypertension that associates retinal vascular lesions, exudate, and papillary edema
What are the symptoms of high blood pressure?
The symptoms that most frequently accompany high blood pressure values are represented by:
- Occipital headache
- Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
- Phosphenes (visual disturbances)
- Dyspnoea
- Vertigo
- Retrosternal pain
- Paresthesias in the face and upper limbs
- Nausea and vomiting
- HTN is a “silent” disease that can evolve insidiously for long periods, the symptoms that appear being specific to diseases determined by the persistence of increased blood pressure values over the years – heart rhythm disorders, angina pectoris from ischemic heart disease, symptoms specific to chronic renal failure or cerebrovascular accidents
The diagnosis of arterial hypertension
The diagnosis of arterial hypertension is established after performing at least 2 consecutive blood pressure measurements during the same visit to the attending physician. The determinations must be repeated in 2-3 weeks during 2-3 consultations. Holter monitoring of blood pressure outside the consulting room allows the 24-hour recording of blood pressure variations during the patient’s daily activities and also during the night.
Treatment of hypertension
The objectives of treatment in hypertension are represented by:
- Lower blood pressure values: systolic blood pressure below 130 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure below 85 mmHg
- Constant maintenance of voltage values
- Prevention and reduction of complications of chronic hypertension
- Improving the quality of life of patients with arterial hypertension
- The non-pharmacological measures used to treat hypertension are represented by the adoption and maintenance of a healthy lifestyle that includes changing harmful eating habits and regular physical activity, reducing body weight and quitting smoking. Consuming approximately 2 l of liquids daily and reducing the amount of alcohol to values below 30 g of ethanol/day help to keep blood pressure under control and slow down vascular atherosclerotic processes (the main risk factor for HTN)
The treatment of high blood pressure is carried out with the help of antihypertensive medication prescribed according to each individual case by the attending physician, which may include a multiple combination of medicinal preparations. The most used substances with antihypertensive therapeutic effects are represented by: thiazide diuretics, beta-blockers, non-dihydropyridine and dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers, converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers and loop diuretics.
The combination of drugs and the adjustment of doses is done according to the indications of the specialist doctor depending on the patient’s comorbidities, the therapeutic response obtained and the patient’s tolerance to the administered treatment.
References:
- Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension – https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmra035488
- Treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension – https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmra040291
- Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension – https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.104.503540
