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Suite 323
2600 Philmont Avenue
Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania 19006
Page 8
Hypertension, The Silent Disease
Introduction to High
Blood Pressure
High
blood pressure is a major health problem in the United
Sates. It is estimated that up to half of all Americans will
have high blood pressure at some time during their life.
Millions of people who have high blood pressure do not even
know they have it, because they have no symptoms. Because of
this it has been called by some "the silent killer". Even
among people who are being treated for high blood pressure
are significant numbers whose blood pressure is not
adequately controlled. High blood pressure is important
because it is associated with leading causes of deathÖ
heart attack and stroke. High blood pressure usually causes
no symptoms for many years. It can only be detected in its
earlier stages by looking for it. The first symptom
experienced by a person with high blood pressure who has not
been diagnosed and treated is often a sudden heart attack or
stroke. A person with high blood pressure which is not
controlled is five times more likely to have a heart attack
than a person with normal pressure. About 90 percent of
stroke patients have high blood pressure.
Hypertension
is the medical term which means high blood pressure. As is
much medical terminology, it is derived from Greek and Latin
words, since the early academic literature of Western
medical knowledge was written in Greek or Latin. Hyper is
from a Greek word meaning "over" or "above". It has come to
be a prefix in English meaning "over, above, more than
normal", or "excessive". Tension is from the Latin tensus,
which means "stretched tight, taut, tense, under pressure".
"Tension" is often used by both the general public and
medical authorities to refer to mental or emotional strain
and anxiety. Many people mistakenly understand the word
"hypertension" to be a mental state, rather than a physical
state of having elevated blood pressure.
While
anxiety and "nervous tension" may sometimes be associated
with high blood pressure, the association is not always
present. The first impression is that someone "hypertensive"
would be excitable, nervous, overactive, anxious, and
worried. This type of person is often thought of as the only
kind susceptible to high blood pressure. The fact is that
most people with high blood pressure have no symptoms
related directly to their blood pressure. It is possible to
have a calm, relaxed personality and still have high blood
pressure requiring treatment.
In
about 90 percent of persons with high blood pressure, it is
not possible to assign a single cause for the disorder. It
is this majority that this article discusses in detail.
Doctors call this most common type "essential" or "primary"
hypertension. "Essential" in this instance does not mean
something very necessary, or something you must have. Rather
"essential" is used as a synonym for "intrinsic", or
existing of itself, without known cause. The small
percentage of cases of high blood pressure which have a
specific cause are referred to as "secondary"
hypertension.
It
is important to make a proper diagnosis of secondary
hypertension, however, since the secondary type may actually
be curable by correcting the cause. Diagnosis of secondary
hypertension can usually be made without much difficulty by
history, physical examination, x-rays, and laboratory
studies. The causes of secondary hypertension are not
discussed in detail in this article.
Many
persons believe they "can tell" when their blood pressure is
high. It has been shown on scientific testing that such
people are quite inaccurate and inconsistent in predicting
their blood pressure by how they feel. How one feels can not
reliably predict blood pressure elevation. The only way to
detect this disease is to measure the blood pressure. Today,
it is simple to have one's blood pressure checked. This was
not always so, as the review of medical history earlier in
this article described.
Causes of Essential Hypertension
With
advancements in medical knowledge in the late 19th and early
20th century it soon became apparent that the systems used
by the body to regulate blood pressure were extremely
complex. To this day, the exact mechanisms of blood pressure
control are not fully known. While we know the tendency to
high blood pressure may be genetic, or inherited, we do not
know all the precise chemical or physical changes in the
body that cause high blood pressure, or control
it.
The
kidneys, brain, nervous system, adrenal glands, and other
organs all play a part in blood pressure regulation. The
normal system keeps blood pressure within a present range.
The system senses when the blood pressure is tending too
high or too low and then corrects it. Some of the factors
involved are chemical substances called hormones. These
include epinephrine (also called adrenaline) and related
chemicals known as catecholamines.
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