We have all heard that high blood pressure is a silent killer. High blood pressure is a silent killer. In the emergency room, we see strokes, kidney failure, and heart attacks all stemming from high blood pressure. This article will detail the early Warning signs of this silent killer.
John Singleton died of a massive stroke on April 29, 2019. John was taken off of life support after his stroke. He was the first African American filmmaker to be nominated for an Oscar award.
According to his family, John battled high blood pressure for many years. Most likly the high blood pressure was uncontrolled. African American men have the highest rates of high blood pressure in America.
High blood symptoms in men are a little bit different than high blood pressure symptoms in women are. For example, often times men have a problem with erectile dysfunction when they have high blood pressure.
Statistics of High Blood Pressure
According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 360,000 American deaths in 2013 included high blood pressure as a primary or contributing cause.2 That is almost 1,000 deaths each day. High blood pressure increases your risk for dangerous health conditions:
- First heart attack: About 7 of every 10 people having their first heart attack have high blood pressure.2
- First stroke: About 8 of every 10 people having their first stroke have high blood pressure.2
- Chronic (long-lasting) heart failure: About 7 of every 10 people with chronic heart failure have high blood pressure.
7 Early Warning Signs of High Blood Pressure
Dizziness
There are many reasons for a person to have dizziness. Dizziness can result from:
- Ear problems
- Medications and
- reduced blood flow
The reason that a person who has high blood pressure gets dizzy is that the brain does not get enough blood.
Severe Headache
High blood pressure causes headaches because the pressure in the arteries are very high. There are arteries that go through the brain.
When the pressure in the brain arteries are very high, it can cause a headache. These headaches are usually located in the front of the head. Often times when we see patients in the emergency room, they described these headaches as of a “throbbing” nature. Some people say they can see their temples throbbing.
We know that high blood pressure is a silent killer. This is why high blood pressure is able to cause so much damage. Therefore, if you have a headache you are one of the “lucky” few.
The effects of high blood pressure are devastating to all the organs in the body. In the emergency room, I have often seen providers give magnesium for headaches. In fact, magnesium has been used to help migraines.
Vision Problems
Often times, people will assume that their vision is getting worse because of old age or they are on the computer for an extended amount of time. If your vision is starting to get worse, it is best to go see an eye doctor because they are several disorders that can cause your vision to get worse.
Signs of high blood pressure vision problems are blurry vision and red spots in your eyes.
Higher blood pressure symptoms cause the vessels in the eye to burst. This is what causes the redness to the eyes. These are all early high blood pressure symptoms.
Chest Pain
When you have chest pain, you know it can be serious. There are many causes of chest pain. Therefore, whenever you have chest pain, the best thing to do is to go to the nearest emergency room. Chest pain occurs because the high blood pressure causes the arteries to contract because of the amount of force.
Sometimes when patients stop taking their high blood pressure medications, the body will go through a “withdrawal” from the drug, and the person will experience chest pain.
One drug that causes rebound high blood pressure is clonidine. I have witnessed this drug to make patients blood pressure go as high as 250/120. Immediately stopping this drug is dangerous and it can cause chest pain.
Kidney Problems
Although this is not often an early warning sign, I wanted to mention the devastating effects that high blood pressure has on the kidneys. Kidney disease affects almost 5 million
- Severe headache
- Fatigue or confusion
- Vision problems
- Chest pain
- Difficulty breathing
- Irregular heartbeat
- Blood in the urine
- Pounding in your ears
- High Blood Pressure Facts
High Blood Pressure Facts
Blood is carried from the heart to all parts of the body in blood vessels. Each time the heart beats, it pumps blood into the vessels. Blood pressure is created by the force of blood pushing against the walls of blood vessels (arteries) as it is pumped by the heart.
Hypertension, also known as high or raised blood pressure, is a condition in which the blood vessels have persistently raised pressure.
The higher the pressure in blood vessels the harder the heart has to
work in order to pump blood. If left uncontrolled, hypertension can lead to a heart attack, an enlargement of the heart and eventually heart failure.
Blood vessels may develop bulges (aneurysms) and weak spots due to high pressure, making them more likely to clog and burst.
The pressure in the blood vessels can also cause blood to leak out into the brain. This can cause a stroke. Hypertension can also lead to kidney failure, blindness, rupture of blood vessels and cognitive impairment.
Conclusion
High blood pressure is a silent killer. You should check your BP t least monthly if you have risk factors.
