High blood pressure is the most common chronic disease and a third of people affected do not know it because they do not have any symptoms. The risk of developing the disease is greater with age, here are some signs that should alert you.
With 17 million hypertensive patients, including 6 million who are unaware of having it, high blood pressure is a scourge which is gaining momentum in France, according to figures published by Public Health France in May 2023. This chronic pathology is characterized by high pressure in the blood vessels. In addition, high blood pressure is one of the main causes of cardiovascular complicationsrenal or cognitive. People with the disease are exposed to complications due to the frequent absence of symptoms, recalls Public Health France. What are the symptoms that should alert you? We answer you!
What is hypertension and what are its causes?
When do we talk about hypertension?
High blood pressure is a cardiovascular disease which is characterized by too high pressure in the blood vessels. A person is said to have high blood pressure when the systolic blood pressure is above 140 mmHg and the diastolic blood pressure exceeds 90 mmHg. To have a reliable assessment of the average level of the arterial pressurebecause it varies during the day, the measurement must be taken three times in a row: at rest, in a lying or sitting position.
The main causes of the scourge
The main cause of hypertension is age. According to Professor Claire Mounier-Vehier, the blood pressure tends to increase from the age of 50. From this age, men are advised to get tested. As for women, they must be careful from the first contraception and its renewal, during pregnancy and at menopause. In addition, the pathology also affects people with family history high blood pressure, pregnant women, people with conditions such as sleep apnea, diabetes or kidney disease.
Risk factors
The first risk factor of high blood pressure is alcohol. Indeed, excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages increases the risk of hypertension and even certain cancers. On the other hand, there is smoking which, by constricting the arteries, makes medications antihypertensives ineffective. General or abdominal obesity, overweight, a diet high in salt and fat, a sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity are other factors that can contribute to increasing the risk of hypertension. Acute stress may also increase blood pressure.
High blood pressure: symptoms that should alert you
An insidious threat
The pathology can persist for a long time without triggering any symptoms, before manifesting itself drastically, confirms 60 million consumers. This is also why high blood pressure is called the silent killer. Patients often trivialize the signs and attribute them to another disease. Sometimes the symptoms that a affected person appear during hypertensive surges. Headaches upon waking up, dizziness, a sensation of ringing, vision problems, persistent fatigue, hematuria and increased heart rate are signs that should worry you and lead you to go to the emergency room.
If it is treated and controlled…
From the age of 80, most elderly people in France are hypertensive. This is not inevitable, because treated and controlled hypertension reduces the risk of stroke by 40%,heart failure 50%, heart attacks 20 to 30%. THE treatment also limits the risks of developing kidney failure. Unfortunately, many of these people are unaware that they have kidney failure. chronic pathology, because the symptoms go unnoticed. Professor Jacques Amar, cardiologist and head of the arterial hypertension department at Toulouse University Hospital, recalls that it is important to have your vital signs monitored regularly by your doctor.
Difficulties related to treatments
When faced with a patient, the treating doctor very often encounters difficulties when it comes to finding the right combination of molecules which will not have too many side effects and which will be able to control the pressure. The healthcare professional must then ensure a lot of dialogue and education with his patient. In some cases, it is access to treatment that is a real problem. Indeed, hypertension is not considered as a long term affection duration, treatments are not fully reimbursed. A reality which is a hindrance for patients in precarious situations.
