Sudden high blood pressure can be a serious and potentially life-threatening condition, as it can damage your heart, blood vessels, and other organs. If your blood pressure exceeds 120/80 mm Hg, you need treatment.
Most people with high blood pressure don’t notice symptoms until their condition reaches dangerous levels, but understanding what causes sudden high blood pressure and how to treat it is important for successful management.
Where does sudden high blood pressure come from?
Here are five possible causes:
1. Diet
Blood pressure is the force of blood against the walls of arteries that carry blood to organs and tissues, such as the organs in the body. High blood pressure forces the heart to work harder while narrowing or closing the arteries that supply oxygenated blood to vital organs. While daily fluctuations in blood pressure are normal, persistently high blood pressure can lead to serious health problems such as heart attack, stroke and kidney failure. Diet, too much salt intake, lack of physical activity, smoking and alcohol use all play a role in causing high blood pressure while those at higher risk include those with a family history of high blood pressure as well as those who are overweight or obese.
Over time, high blood pressure can damage and harden arteries, making them less elastic and restricting blood flow to certain parts of the body. Over time, this can lead to an aneurysm forming within a weakened artery wall, which can rupture and cause life-threatening bleeding inside an individual’s body.
If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, it is important that you follow a healthy diet and take your medication as prescribed. In particular, try to limit your sodium and salt intake as much as possible and only consume alcohol in moderation; heavy drinkers should gradually stop or cut back, with one drink being defined as 12 ounces (355 milliliters or mL), 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits.
If your blood pressure suddenly increases, it is essential that you see a doctor immediately. A sudden increase in blood pressure can cause a variety of symptoms including nosebleeds, redness of the face or eyes (conjunctival hemorrhage), headaches, and numbness or weakness in the limbs.
2. Excessive exercise
High blood pressure puts extra stress on both the heart and blood vessels, potentially leading to health complications such as heart disease or stroke. Blood pressure is determined by the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries when your heart beats, as well as how narrow or resistant they are to allowing blood to flow through them.
Blood pressure varies throughout the day and is often caused by a number of factors, unhealthy eating habits, consuming too much salt, lack of physical activity and smoking or drinking alcohol can all contribute to high blood pressure. Certain chronic conditions such as kidney disease, diabetes and sleep apnea also increase the risk of high blood pressure; sometimes your doctor can identify an underlying cause that can help lower your blood pressure.
People often don’t notice their blood pressure rising until it reaches dangerously high levels, when symptoms such as a dull headache or dizziness appear, although these symptoms don’t always correspond to reality; symptoms often don’t appear until the disease has progressed to a life-threatening stage.
Untreated or uncontrolled high blood pressure can damage both kidneys and cause a stroke, when blood stops supplying part of your brain, affecting your ability to think clearly, remember and understand information. Stroke also increases the risk of vascular dementia (which includes memory loss and difficulty thinking), which affects cognitive skills such as learning.
3. Smoking
There are many risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing high blood pressure. These include being older, being overweight or obese, smoking, and having an unhealthy diet without enough exercise.
Smoking causes blood vessels to narrow and constrict, leading to a buildup of hard plaque, which increases pressure in the arteries supplying blood to the brain, increasing the risk of stroke, heart disease, and kidney problems.
A key way to reduce the risk associated with high blood pressure is to maintain a healthy weight by not smoking or using other forms of tobacco. To reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure, it is essential that you maintain a healthy weight as well as avoid tobacco products completely.
Medical conditions that cause rapid increases in blood pressure include renal artery stenosis and pheochromocytoma (an endocrine condition caused by tumors growing in the adrenal glands). In addition, some cold medications contain sympathomimetic agents that can cause sudden increases in blood pressure.
High blood pressure can often be prevented by following a healthy diet and lifestyle habits such as losing weight, cutting down on salt, not smoking and controlling stress levels. It is also important to have your blood pressure checked regularly and medication may be needed when necessary; remember that high blood pressure often develops slowly over time without causing any visible symptoms.
4. Stress
A normal circulatory system consists of the heart, blood vessels and blood pressure monitor that carry blood throughout your body. Each contraction (beat) of the heart pushes blood into large blood vessels called arteries; blood pressure measures the force exerted on the walls of the arteries by the heart as it beats and relaxes between beats; Any reading above 180/120 mm Hg indicates a hypertensive crisis that requires immediate medical attention, with symptoms including nosebleeds, vomiting, chest pain, vision problems, headaches, numbness, weakness, and shortness of breath, among others.
Sudden changes in blood pressure are often a sign of an underlying medical condition that requires medical treatment, but in more than 90 percent of cases, there is no obvious cause for this high blood pressure; this condition is called primary or essential hypertension and tends to develop gradually over time.
However, certain conditions, such as kidney disease, an adrenal gland tumor, or bilateral renal artery stenosis (narrowing of the arteries in the kidneys), can cause your blood pressure to spike rapidly. Additionally, sleep disorders that cause breathing to stop while you sleep can also cause a temporary increase in blood pressure.
To prevent a sudden increase in blood pressure, eating a heart-healthy diet, exercising regularly, limiting salt and alcohol intake, and losing weight are all effective steps to reduce your risk. Additionally, drinking plenty of water, getting enough sleep, and managing stress are all important factors in maintaining healthy blood pressure levels. Regular monitoring at home or at your doctor’s office can quickly identify problems that need attention.
5. Alcohol
Alcohol is rapidly absorbed from the digestive tract into the bloodstream. Most of the alcohol is processed through metabolism in the liver into acetaldehyde, which is then exhaled from the lungs as acetic acid through the breath. A small percentage of what is not metabolized circulates through your body before being eliminated through saliva, breath, sweat, and urine. The effects of alcohol on cardiovascular health vary considerably and depend on many variables, including race, gender, age, intake, use of other medications, family history, and medical conditions. Moderate alcohol consumption has been found to have a protective effect on the cardiovascular system against coronary heart disease, stroke, and thrombosis (blood clots). On the other hand, chronic heavy drinking can be harmful to the health of the heart and blood vessels, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disorders, vascular disease, and death. Occasional heavy drinking (particularly binge drinking) increases the incidence of coronary heart disease, especially in young men and women.
The immediate effect of alcohol on the heart and blood vessels is to dilate blood vessels, leading to a temporary increase in blood pressure. Long-term drinking can cause kidney damage, diabetes, sleep apnea, or even pancreatitis, an acute inflammation and swelling of the pancreas that can be fatal.
Some risk factors for high blood pressure can be changed, including diet, exercise, and weight control. Other risk factors cannot be changed, such as a family history of high blood pressure or smoking/tobacco use. Some people develop high blood pressure in middle age; those at higher risk include those with diabetes or kidney disease or lifestyle factors such as an unhealthy diet, excessive alcohol use, stress, or obesity.
