The excessive pressure on the artery walls caused by high blood pressure can damage blood vessels and body organs. The higher the blood pressure and the longer it goes uncontrolled, the greater the damage.
Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to complications including:
- Heart attack or stroke: Hardening and thickening of the arteries due to high blood pressure or other factors can lead to a heart attack, stroke or other complications.
- Aneurysm: Increased blood pressure can cause a blood vessel to weaken and bulge, forming an aneurysm. If an aneurysm ruptures, it can be life-threatening.
- Heart failure: When you have high blood pressure, the heart has to work harder to pump blood. The strain causes the walls of the heart’s pumping chamber to thicken. This condition is called left ventricular hypertrophy. Eventually, the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs, causing heart failure.
- Kidney problems: High blood pressure can cause the blood vessels in the kidneys to become narrow or weak. This can lead to kidney damage.
- Eye problems: Increased blood pressure can cause thickened, narrowed or torn blood vessels in the eyes. This can result in vision loss.
- Metabolic syndrome: This syndrome is a group of disorders of the body’s metabolism. It involves the irregular breakdown of sugar, also called glucose. The syndrome includes increased waist size, high triglycerides, decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL or “good”) cholesterol, high blood pressure and high blood sugar levels. These conditions make you more likely to develop diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
- Changes with memory or understanding: Uncontrolled high blood pressure may affect the ability to think, remember and learn.
- Dementia: Narrowed or blocked arteries can limit blood flow to the brain. This can cause a certain type of dementia called vascular dementia. A stroke that interrupts blood flow to the brain also can cause vascular dementia.
High Blood Pressure Program created by Christian Goodman for all those people who want to lower blood pressure and get off their medications.
