The Effects of Hypertension on the Body
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is when your blood travels through blood vessels with more force than is considered healthy. When blood pressure is high, it can damage artery and blood vessel walls over time. This leads to dangerous complications and even death if left untreated.
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Circulatory system
Damage caused by high blood pressure starts small and builds over time. The longer it goes undiagnosed or uncontrolled, the more serious your risks.
Your blood vessels and major arteries carry blood throughout the body and supply it to vital organs and tissue. When the pressure at which blood travels gets increased, it begins to damage artery walls.
Damage starts as small tears. As these artery wall tears begin to form, bad cholesterol flowing through the blood starts to attach itself to the tears. More and more cholesterol builds up in the walls, making the artery narrow. Less blood is able to get through.
When the proper amount of blood can’t move through a blocked artery, it causes damage to the tissue or organ it’s supposed to reach. In the heart, this can mean chest pain, irregular heartbeat, or a heart attack.
The heart also has to work harder, but is less effective with high blood pressure and blocked arteries. Eventually, the extra work can lead to an enlarged left ventricle, which is the part of the heart that pumps blood to the body. This also puts you at a higher risk of having a heart attack.
Heart failure is when your heart becomes so weak and damaged from high blood pressure, working hard, or a previous heart attack, that it stops being able to pump blood through your body effectively. Signs of heart failure include:
- shortness of breath
- trouble breathing
- swelling in the feet, ankles, legs, or abdomen
- feeling tired
High blood pressure can also cause a bulge to form in a damaged artery. This is known as an aneurysm. The bulge gets larger and larger and often isn’t found until it causes pain by pressing on another area of the body, or bursts.
A ruptured aneurysm can be deadly if it’s in one of your major arteries. This can happen anywhere in the body.
Nervous system
The same damage that high blood pressure causes to blood vessels and arteries in the heart can happen to the arteries in the brain. When a larger blockage of blood to the brain occurs, it’s called a stroke. If parts of the brain can’t get the oxygen they receive from blood, cells begin to die.
Your survival rate and likelihood of permanent brain damage depends on how severe the stroke is and how fast you receive treatment.
Blood vessels in the eyes can be damaged as well. If they burst or bleed, it can cause vision difficulties, like blurriness or blindness. Fluid buildup under the retina is called choroidopathy.High blood pressure may play a role in dementia and cognitive decline over time. Reduced blood flow to the brain causes memory and thinking problems. You might have trouble remembering or understanding things, or lose focus during conversations.
Skeletal system
High blood pressure can cause bone loss, known as osteoporosis, by increasing the amount of calcium your body gets rid of when you urinate. Women who have already gone through menopause are especially at risk.
Osteoporosis weakens your bones and makes it easier for fractures and breaks to happen.
Like the brain and heart, arteries in the lungs can be damaged and blocked. When the artery that carries blood to your lungs gets blocked, it’s called a pulmonary embolism. This is very serious and requires immediate medical attention. An aneurysm can also happen in the lung.
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that causes loud snoring and breathing interruptions during a night’s sleep. People with sleep apnea often don’t feel rested when they wake up in the morning. Research has linked the condition to high blood pressure, since many people who are diagnosed with sleep apnea also have high blood pressure.
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