Can't find a reason for your high blood pressure? Let's talk about Primary Hypertension

"Pressure" is a word that we often hear in our homes, among relatives, and when talking to friends. For some, their blood pressure may increase due to a disease like diabetes. But do you know, for many people, it is not possible to say exactly why their blood pressure increases. Similarly, high blood pressure that occurs without a specific cause and is caused by a combination of several factors is what we call primary hypertension in medicine. In the past, this was also called `(Essential Hypertension)`. Today, we will talk about this simply and in a way that you can understand.

Simply put, what is Primary Hypertension?

Simply put, this is when your blood pressure is higher than normal without any obvious underlying condition. A healthy person's blood pressure should be less than 120/80 mmHg. If one or both of these values ​​are consistently higher than this level, it means that the pressure inside your blood vessels is too high. In Primary Hypertension, because there is no single cause, we say it is a multi-factorial condition.

Why should we care so much about this?

Many people think that high blood pressure is normal. But uncontrolled high blood pressure is like a silent killer. It gradually damages the delicate blood vessels in your body. Over time, this damage can build up and lead to serious, life-threatening complications.

Here are some of the dangerous situations that can arise from this:

• Brain aneurysm: A blood vessel in the brain can weaken and bulge like a balloon and burst.
• Dementia: Memory and thinking ability are gradually lost due to impaired blood supply to the brain.
• Heart attack: Blockage of blood vessels supplying the heart.
• Heart failure: A condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood to the body.
• Kidney disease: The kidneys may be damaged, the body's waste filtering process may stop, and dialysis may be required for the rest of your life.
• Malignant hypertension: Blood pressure suddenly becomes very high and causes organ damage.
• Stroke: Loss of life in part of the body due to interruption of blood flow to the brain.
• Vision loss: Damage to the delicate blood vessels in the eye can lead to impaired vision and even blindness.

What are the risk factors that affect this condition?

Although there is no single cause for primary hypertension, there are many risk factors that can affect it. Some of these are things we can change. Some are things we can't control. Let's take a look at what these are.

How is this different from other types of pressure?

High blood pressure can be divided into two main types.

1. Primary Hypertension: This is the type we are talking about. There is no single cause for this.

2. Secondary Hypertension: In this case, there is a clear reason for the increase in blood pressure. That is, the increase in blood pressure occurs as a side effect of another medical condition or medication.

Things that can cause secondary hypertension are:

• Kidney disease
• Thyroid disease
• High blood pressure during pregnancy (preeclampsia)
• Obstructive sleep apnea
• Adrenal gland diseases
• Some painkillers (NSAIDs)

Sometimes a person can have both types of hypertension together. For example, if a person with primary hypertension suddenly experiences a significant increase in blood pressure, the doctor will also look for a new cause of secondary hypertension.

What are the symptoms of this? Can't we know in advance?

This is where the danger lies. Primary Hypertension doesn't show any symptoms in its early stages. You can damage the blood vessels inside your body without even realizing it. That's why we call it the "Silent Killer."

Over time, some symptoms begin to appear due to damage to the blood vessels.

If you have any of these symptoms, please see your doctor immediately.

How does a doctor diagnose this exactly?

Primary hypertension is diagnosed after confirming that your blood pressure is high and that there is no `secondary` cause (such as kidney disease) that is affecting it.

How to check pressure

The doctor measures your blood pressure by placing a cuff around your arm and inflating it. This gives two values.

• Systolic pressure (top number): This measures the maximum pressure inside your blood vessels when your heart beats and pumps blood.
• Diastolic pressure (bottom number):This measures the minimum pressure inside the blood vessels when the heart is resting between two heartbeats.

You can't say that you have high blood pressure just because your blood pressure is high once. The doctor will measure your blood pressure over several days and at several times to reach a conclusion.

Are other tests needed?

If your blood pressure is consistently high, your doctor may recommend that you have 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring . This involves wearing a small device around your waist and a cuff attached to it on your arm for 24 hours a day. The device measures your blood pressure at regular intervals, even while you are working or sleeping. At the end of the day, you can average these readings to determine if you really have high blood pressure.

How is it treated? What should we do?

There are two main components to treating primary hypertension. These are lifestyle changes and medications. Both need to be taken together.

1. Lifestyle Changes

This is more important than taking medication. If you make these changes correctly, you may be able to reduce the dose of medication, or even control your blood pressure without medication.

• Exercise: Do at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, such as brisk walking, running, or cycling.
• Quit smoking: If you are a smoker, quit today. Smoking is very harmful to blood vessels.
• Avoiding alcohol and drugs: It is best to stay away from these completely.
• Heart-healthy diet:
• Reduce salt: Completely stop adding salt to your food and eating foods high in salt (sauces, ketchup, dried fish, sausages, snacks).
• Reduce oil and sugar: Reduce fried foods, sweet foods, and bakery foods as much as possible.
• Vegetables, fruits, and herbs: Add more of these to your diet.
• Good sleep: Getting 7-8 hours of good sleep a day is very important for controlling blood pressure.

2. Medications given by the doctor

If lifestyle changes alone don't control your blood pressure, your doctor will prescribe medication. Never start, stop, or change the dosage of this medication on your own.