Get to know essential hypertension, its symptoms and how to treat it

High blood pressure or hypertension is a common serious health condition. The world health agency (WHO) noted that about 1.13 billion people in the world suffer from this disease. Meanwhile, most of it occurs due to uncertain factors, which is known as essential or primary hypertension. What is essential hypertension and how can it be treated?

What is essential hypertension?

As mentioned above, essential hypertension, also known as primary hypertension, is a type of high blood pressure that has no definite (idiopathic) cause. However, experts believe, this condition may be related to genetic factors, poor diet, inactivity, and obesity.

Primary hypertension is the most common case of hypertension. As many as 95% of people with hypertension in the world belong to this type of hypertension. The rest are secondary hypertension cases, which occur due to certain medical conditions, such as kidney disease.

Reporting from the Mayo Clinic, primary hypertension tends to develop gradually over the years. Therefore, a person with primary hypertension needs to control their blood pressure to prevent other serious diseases, such as heart disease.

Controlling blood pressure in primary hypertension is usually done with lifestyle changes. Medical treatment is usually given if the hypertensive patient's blood pressure does not show any changes or even shows an increase even though he has adopted a healthy lifestyle as recommended.

What are the signs and symptoms of essential hypertension?

Generally, people with essential or primary hypertension do not experience certain signs and symptoms. Usually, you only notice an increase in blood pressure when you check your blood pressure at a clinic or hospital.

Even so, some people with hypertension may experience headaches, shortness of breath, or nosebleeds. However, usually the symptoms of hypertension only appear when your high blood pressure has entered a more severe stage or is called a hypertensive crisis.

There may be signs and symptoms not listed above. If you have concerns about certain symptoms, consult a doctor immediately.

When to see a doctor?

The symptoms you need to watch out for are chest pain, shortness of breath, and decreased body reflexes. It is possible that your organs may have been affected and your condition has developed into a more serious case of hypertension.

However, each sufferer's body shows varying signs and symptoms. In order for you to get the most appropriate treatment and according to your health condition, get any symptoms checked by the doctor or the nearest health service center.

What are the causes and risk factors for essential hypertension?

As previously explained, cases of hypertension can be categorized as essential if there is no clear cause. Therefore, essential or primary hypertension is often referred to as an idiopathic condition.

However, it is thought that there are several conditions that can increase a person's risk of developing essential hypertension. One of them is genetic factor.

A person who has genetic factors or hereditary hypertension from his family is at greater risk of developing high blood pressure. People with hypertension hereditary factors also tend to be more sensitive to sodium or salt intake, which is one of the causes of hypertension.

In fact, about 50-60 percent of hypertensive patients are more sensitive to salt than ordinary people, so they are much more prone to suffer from hypertension even though they consume salt in reasonable limits.

Apart from genetic factors, a poor lifestyle and certain conditions can also increase a person's risk of developing high blood pressure. The following are conditions that can lead to essential hypertension:

• Excess weight (obesity).
• The existence of insulin resistance in the body.
• Excessive alcohol consumption.
• Too much salt intake.
• Lack of potassium and calcium intake.
• Increased blood lipid levels (dyslipidemia).
• Uncontrollable stress.
• Rarely do physical activity or exercise.

How do doctors diagnose essential hypertension?

Doctors generally diagnose essential hypertension by measuring blood pressure. Blood pressure can be said to be high, if it is at certain systolic and diastolic numbers. The systolic number is a number that shows the pressure when the heart is pumping blood, while the diastolic number shows the pressure when the heart is resting.

You are classified as having hypertension if you have a blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or more. The normal blood pressure is below 120/80 mmHg. If your blood pressure is between normal and hypertension, this condition is also known as prehypertension.

If the results of your blood pressure measurement are high, generally the doctor will do several checks. In addition, your doctor may ask you to measure your blood pressure for 24 hours with an ambulatory blood pressure gauge, to determine whether you are classified as essential hypertension or just white coat hypertension.

If the results are still high, the doctor will review your medical record, perform a physical exam, and may perform some tests, especially if you have certain symptoms. This is important to determine whether the hypertension you suffer has affected the body's organs.

How is essential hypertension treated?

Basically, essential or primary hypertension cannot be cured completely. If you have this type of hypertension, you need to control your blood pressure to prevent the increase in blood pressure. Moreover, as you get older, your blood pressure tends to rise.

The main way to control blood pressure is by changing your lifestyle to be healthier. A healthy lifestyle that you need to adopt includes a hypertensive diet by reducing salt intake and consuming certain fruits and vegetables, regular exercise, limiting drinking alcohol, managing stress, and various other ways to lower blood pressure.

Drugs

If lifestyle changes are not helping enough, your doctor may prescribe antihypertensive drugs. Hypertension drugs need to be consumed regularly and regularly, according to a doctor's prescription to be effective in controlling blood pressure. Some of the high blood pressure medications that may be given are:

• Beta-blockers , such as metoprolol (Lopressor).
• Calcium channel blockers , such as amlodipine (Norvasc).
• Diuretics, such as hydrochlorothiazide / HCTZ (Microzide).
• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor , such as captopril (Capoten).
• Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB), such as losartan (Cozaar).

Several other types of high blood pressure medication may also be given in certain conditions. If you have any questions, consult your doctor for the best solution to your problem.

What are the possible complications of essential hypertension?

Hypertension, including essential hypertension, can be fatal if not controlled. Higher blood pressure can damage blood vessels, which can lead to problems with other organs.

If it has hit other organs, additional treatment may be needed by you. Here are some hypertension complications that may occur if you cannot control primary hypertension:

• Heart problems, such as a heart attack or heart failure.
• Kidney problems, such as kidney failure.
• Stroke.
• Memory or memory problems.
• Metabolic syndrome.
• Eye problems.

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