Hypertension causes, signs and symptoms and how it can be prevented

Hypertension is a slow-growing epidemic in the modern era and the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Hypertension or high blood pressure is due to increased resistance to the flow of blood through narrowed or hardened blood vessels for which there are several contributing factors, the major contributing factor is our lifestyle. Others include genetics, positive family history, and old age. Also, the male gender has an increased propensity to develop hypertension, but these are non-modifiable risk factors for hypertension and one cannot change his genetics family history, and age. But the factors which can be changed are the modifiable risk factors, which include

smoking.
Diabetes mellitus.
Lack of active lifestyle.
Obesity.
High cholesterol.
Increased salt intake.
Alcohol intake.

Now we talk about the signs and symptoms which can help detect anybody who might be on the verge of developing or have developed hypertension. These symptoms are not specific and may include

Early morning headaches.
Decreased vision or blurred vision.
Nausea vomiting.
Hematuria (blood in urine).
Shortness of breath.
Nosebleeds.
Chest pain.

If blood pressure goes unchecked it may lead to complete loss of vision, severe kidney disease, stroke or even death so what are the steps or precautions that can be taken beforehand to avoid these hazardous complications

Cessation of smoking has many proven health benefits as smoking causes atherosclerosis also known as hardening of vessel walls. So by quitting smoking, one can at least slow the progression of atherosclerosis and hypertension.
A healthy diet and avoiding junk and fatty food also are very beneficial as when a person eats over his daily requirement for energy the excess glucose gets converted into fatty acids or fats which get deposited in the walls of vessels and decrease the caliber and elasticity of vessels causing high blood pressure. Increased fat intake also causes thrombus or clot formation, hence increasing the chances of myocardial infarction or stroke.
Daily exercise helps a person to get rid of extra calories which otherwise get converted into fats, so by maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle these changes can be prevented.
Decreased added salt intake as salt contains sodium in it the more salt a person consumes the more sodium level gets in the body which causes renin release from kidneys which through a series of enzymatic reactions causes vasoconstriction hence further increasing blood pressure, so one should not exceed his daily requirement of consuming salt which is 6g of salt or a teaspoon of salt.
Good diabetes control, as insulin causes relaxation of conduit channels. Still, in type ii diabetes there is insulin resistance, so these functions are impaired, so one should maintain good diabetes control, as people with diabetes are twice at risk of developing hypertension as compared to normal healthy persons.
Maintenance of BMI in between a range18 to 25.
And most important precaution is regular medical checkups so that hypertension can be picked as early as possible and its complications can be prevented. The regular checkup includes an eye examination and a urine complete report, which can help pick up early microvascular complications of hypertension.

For further clarity regarding hypertension, there are two types of hypertension

PRIMARY HYPERTENSION (for which there is no identifiable cause).
SECONDARY HYPERTENSION (for which there may be an underlying cause like hyperthyroidism etc. so in this case first treat the cause and the symptom).

In the end, I hope this article helps you to understand what is hypertension, its risk factors, causes, signs and symptoms, and its prevention.