Hypertension complications if not treated immediately & bull; hello healthy

In general, hypertension cannot be felt and does not show significant symptoms of high blood pressure. Therefore, many people do not realize that they have high blood pressure. In fact, some people even underestimate this condition. In fact, hypertension that is left untreated or not treated properly can have serious complications for the health of the body.

Even without symptoms, a person can find out that he has high blood pressure through regular blood pressure measurements. The blood pressure that is classified as hypertension reaches 140/90 mmHg or more. While normal blood pressure, which is below 120/80 mmHg. If the blood pressure is between that range, a person is said to have another type of hypertension, namely prehypertension.

Hypertension complications that must be watched out

High blood pressure occurs when the bloodstream pushes against or compresses the blood vessels with great force. The causes of hypertension are various, although most of them are not known with certainty.

Strong blood pressure can weaken and damage the artery walls. In fact, arterial blood vessels should have a form that is elastic, strong, and flexible. The inner walls are also softly textured, so that blood can flow smoothly and supply the vital organs in the body with oxygen and other nutrients.

Thus, when the arteries are damaged, blood flow becomes disrupted and oxygen supply to important organs in the body is limited. If this happens, other diseases due to hypertension will very likely arise. In fact, these diseases can often cause death.

Here are some complications that you should be aware of if you have a history of hypertension:

1. Atherosclerosis

When your blood vessels are damaged, fat that enters through your food can build up on the walls of the arteries. This buildup will eventually become plaque (fat deposits) and make the walls of the blood vessels thick and stiff, causing a narrowing. This narrowing of the blood vessels is called atherosclerosis.

When atherosclerosis occurs, blood flow from the arteries to other organs becomes obstructed. Thus, your body organs will lack blood supply that contains oxygen and other nutrients, causing various problems in the body organs, such as the heart, brain, kidneys, or other organs.

2. Aneurysms

Atherosclerosis due to high blood pressure can form bulges in the artery walls. This bulge is called an aneurysm.

Hypertensive complications in the form of aneurysms usually do not cause signs or symptoms for years. The pain, such as throbbing, is a medical condition that needs to be treated immediately. To make matters worse, if the aneurysm continues to enlarge and eventually burst, it can cause life-threatening internal bleeding.

Aneurysms can form in any artery, but this condition most commonly occurs in the largest artery in your body, known as the aorta.

3. Peripheral artery disease

Atherosclerosis due to hypertension can narrow the peripheral arteries, namely the arteries in the legs, abdomen, arms and head. This condition is known as peripheral artery disease.

Peripheral artery disease most commonly affects the arteries in the legs. The most common symptoms are cramping and pain or feeling tired in the leg or hip muscles when walking or climbing stairs. Usually, this pain will go away with rest and come back when you walk again.

In rare cases, peripheral artery disease can lead to tissue death (gangrene) which can lead to limb loss or amputation, even death.

4. Coronary artery disease

Hypertension can lead to health complications in the heart. This can happen if the hypertension you suffer from causes damage and narrowing of the blood vessels (atherosclerosis) leading to the heart (coronary arteries). This condition is called coronary artery disease.

Coronary artery disease causes the blood supply to the heart muscle to be disrupted. Without an adequate blood supply, the heart becomes deprived of oxygen and essential nutrients it needs to work properly. This condition can then cause chest pain (angina), heart attack, or an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia).

5. Enlargement of the left ventricle of the heart

Another heart problem that can arise from hypertension is left ventricular hypertrophy. Left ventricular hypertrophy or also known as left ventricle (chamber) enlargement of the heart, which is a condition when the left ventricle of the heart thickens and enlarges, so it can't pump blood properly.

In this condition, the heart needs to pump blood harder than usual to meet the blood supply throughout the body. If not treated immediately, this condition can progress to heart attack, heart failure, and even cardiac arrest.

6. Heart attack

Hypertension can lead to heart attacks if not treated properly. This condition occurs when the hypertension you have has caused narrowing or atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries or coronary artery disease.

As a result of this narrowing, blood flow to the heart muscles will be disrupted so that the heart muscle does not get enough oxygen and nutrients. When this happens, the heart muscle tissue will begin to break down and even die slowly, causing a heart attack.

A heart attack is an emergency. This condition requires medical attention as soon as possible because it can be fatal. When a heart attack occurs, generally a person will experience several symptoms, such as chest pressure, pain, or a squeezing sensation that spreads to the neck, jaw, or back, nausea, indigestion, heartburn, or stomach pain, shortness of breath, cold sweats, fatigue, and sudden lightheadedness or dizziness.

7. Heart failure

Hypertension that is left untreated and not treated properly can also lead to other heart complications, namely heart failure. As for heart failure, which is a condition in which your heart can't provide enough blood to the body.

The American Heart Association (AHA) says this can happen because the arteries become narrow due to high blood pressure. The narrowed arteries make it difficult for blood to flow throughout the body.

This condition ultimately forces the heart to pump blood harder. Over time, the higher workload causes the heart to thicken and enlarge. The bigger the heart, the more difficult it will be to work to meet the body's need for oxygen and nutrients carried by the blood.

Common symptoms of heart failure are shortness of breath, fatigue, swelling in the wrists, feet, stomach, and blood vessels in the neck.

8. Glomerulosclerosis

Kidney and high blood pressure are closely related. The kidneys work by removing food waste and excess fluid from the body. This process is very dependent on healthy blood vessels.

If you have high blood pressure, it runs the risk of damaging the blood vessels leading to and coming from the kidneys. This condition leads to complications of hypertension in the form of nephropathy, a group of diseases that attack the kidneys.

One of the problems with the kidneys that may occur, namely glumerulosclerosis. Glumerulosclerosis is a wound in the glomeruli, which are the small blood vessels found in the kidneys. The function of the glomeruli is to filter fluid and waste products from the blood.

Glumerulosclerosis is also one of the main triggers for kidney failure.

9. Renal artery aneurysm

Aneurysms can also form on the walls of blood vessels in the kidneys. If an aneurysm appears in the arteries leading to the kidneys, it is called a renal artery aneurysm. As with aneurysms in general, renal artery aneurysms also occur due to atherosclerosis, one of which is high blood pressure.

10. Chronic kidney disease

High blood pressure or uncontrolled hypertension can also cause other kidney complications, namely chronic kidney disease (chronic kidney disease). Chronic kidney disease is a gradual loss of kidney function.

This disease can occur because high blood pressure decreases the function of the kidneys in removing excess fluid from the body. This decrease in kidney function can worsen and cause kidney damage over the course of months or years.

In its early stages, chronic kidney disease causes only mild symptoms. Over time, his symptoms got stronger as his kidney damage progressed. If it gets worse, chronic kidney disease can progress to kidney failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

11. Kidney failure

Other complications in the kidneys due to hypertension, namely kidney failure. The American Kidney Fund says, kidney failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a condition in which the kidneys cannot work properly to remove excess fluid from the body.

Kidney failure can occur due to high blood pressure. This is a kidney disease that is already fatal. In this condition, the kidneys become damaged, and are unable to filter waste products from your blood. Over time, excess fluid builds up in the kidneys and you will need to undergo dialysis or a kidney transplant in order to survive.

12. Blindness

Not only can hypertension affect the blood vessels in the kidneys, hypertension can also lead to complications in the blood vessels in the eye. The blood vessels in the eye can also be damaged, then narrow and thicken due to high blood pressure.

When this happens, blood flow to the eye will be limited. The lack of blood flow to the retina causes blurred vision or complete loss of vision (blindness). This condition is also known as hypertensive retinopathy.

Apart from retinopathy, blindness in people with hypertension can also occur due to fluid buildup under the retina (choroidopathy) or nerve damage (optic neuropathy). Optic neuropathy occurs when obstructed blood flow damages the optic nerve. This condition damages the nerve cells in your eye, causing temporary or permanent vision.

13. Stroke

Apart from the heart and eyes, other organs that may be affected by hypertension are the brain. One of the disorders in the brain that often occurs, namely stroke. Stroke is a condition when the flow of oxygen-rich blood and nutrients to some areas of the brain is disrupted, causing brain cells to die.

Stroke can be caused by hypertension or high blood pressure. High blood pressure can cause blood vessels in the brain to burst. This condition causes blood flow to the brain to be blocked and a stroke occurs.

Symptoms of a stroke include paralysis or numbness of the face, hands and feet, difficulty speaking, and difficulty seeing.

14. Transcient ischemic attack or a mild stroke

Apart from stroke in general, hypertension can also cause a transcient ischemic attack (TIA) or what is also known as a mild stroke. A TIA is a temporary disruption of the blood supply to your brain.

As with stroke, this condition can occur when blood flow to the brain is interrupted due to narrowed arteries. However, this condition is not as severe as a stroke. A TIA is often a warning that you are at risk for a stroke.

15. Difficulty remembering, focusing or dementia

Uncontrolled hypertension can also cause complications in the form of cognitive changes. You may have problems thinking, remembering, and studying.

Signs of complications from hypertension can include difficulty finding words when speaking, and losing focus when speaking.

The complication that occurs from this condition, if hypertension is not treated promptly, is dementia. Dementia is a term used to describe symptoms of memory loss, confusion, difficulty speaking, and difficulty understanding or receiving information.

Dementia as a complication of hypertension is usually progressive. This means that the symptoms will get worse over time. The type of dementia that usually occurs as a result of complications of hypertension is vascular dementia.

Narrowing or blockage of blood vessels in people with hypertension can cause complications in the form of problems with blood supply to the brain. This can increase the risk of hypertensive complications in the form of dementia.

16. Metabolic syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is a collection of metabolic disorders in the body. One of the risk factors is high blood pressure, so that metabolic syndrome is a complication of hypertension.

High blood pressure coupled with high blood sugar levels, high cholesterol levels (low good cholesterol levels and high triglyceride levels), and a large waist circumference are diagnosed as metabolic syndrome. This condition allows people with hypertension to develop diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

17. Sexual dysfunction

With age, damage to blood vessel walls due to complications of hypertension can also affect the function of the reproductive organs.

In men, complications of hypertension can cause impotence, which is the inability of men to achieve or maintain an erection. Meanwhile, women may also experience complications of hypertension in the form of decreased sexual desire, vaginal dryness, or difficulty reaching orgasm during sexual intercourse.

Even if you have a history of high blood pressure, you can still avoid these complications. In addition to routine blood pressure checks, you also need to adopt a healthy lifestyle, such as doing a hypertensive diet by reducing salt intake, increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, exercising, not smoking, reducing alcohol intake, and reducing stress.

If necessary, the doctor will give you high blood medication to be able to control your blood pressure better. You also need to remember to always consult with your doctor about the development of your health.

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