On A Limb with Claudia

Remember that friend of mine (In the beginning…) who bugged me about my hypertension? I asked her to post some of her thoughts about why anyone should treat their hypertension. Here it is! — Claudia

WHY TREAT HYPERTENSION?

This is a good question. Hypertension (high blood pressure) does not make one feel bad. It does not cause immediate health concerns. The medications cause side effects.

Before treating the problem, it must be fully evaluated. For example, kidneys, brain, thyroid, or heart problems may cause hypertension. If anybody finds during a health screening that they have elevated blood pressure (greater than 120/80), the first step is to see your doctor. If a cause of the hypertension is found, then the diagnosis is secondary hypertension (i.e. secondary to another disease)

If the diagnosis is primary or essential hypertension, most primary care physicians will discuss medication and life style changes. Diet and exercise can help normalize borderline hypertension (below 140/90). We (the medical community) did not always realize that any elevation over 120/80 carried risk of end organ damage.

Ending organ damage is the reason to treat. What organs? Brain, kidney, heart, eyes may be danaged by hypertension. The general process is the same. Small arteries become narrowed so that blood cannot flow easily. This process is gradual. Eventually there is enough narrowing in the small arteries so that blood and the oxygen it carries cannot get through. This results in damage. What kind of damage? Just heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness. Of course, most of the time it takes years of uncontrolled hypertension to result in such dramatic events. But if there are other risk factors such as diabetes or tobacco abuse, the damage may develop quickly.

Some patients do not have a major ‘event’ such as a stroke or heart attack. Rather they slowly develop damage (such as heart failure or dementia) Once damage has occured, whether acute or chronic, there is little we can do the fix the damaged organ.

Bottom line: if you have hypertension, treat it.

Dr. Michele Ferguson, Boulder, Colorado

Filed under: Techniques to reducing high blood pressure