HYPERTENSION

INTRODUCTION
     All living human do have a blood pressure. It becomes a problem when it is high (hypertension) or low (hypotension). At all time, a Normal blood pressure must be maintained in order for our
blood to effectively convey oxygen from our lungs and nutrient from our intestines to every part of our body without it causing any damage.
      For our blood to effectively function in this capacity, every part of our body is laced up with pipes which convey oxygen from our lungs and the absorbed nutrients from our intestines to all parts of our body; an arrangement similar to the plumbering  work of our houses making it possible for us to have access to water in our kitchens, dinning rooms, bathrooms and so on. This pipes are called ARTERIES.  Also another set of pipes are seen to exit every part of our body. They function to carry away the wastes (i.e the end product of the nutrients and oxygen that the artery had supplied) to where they will be excreted from the body like our kidneys (our urine brewery), skin (sweat), lungs (carbon iv oxide). This pipes are called VEINS.  At the tissue level, the arteries and veins are connected by smaller pipes called CAPILLARIES. It is at the capillaries that the oxygen and nutrient conveyed by the arteries are delivered to the tissues and wastes plus carbon (iv) oxide are picked up from the tissue and carried away through the veins.
     At all point in time we must have oxygen and nutrients conveyed to our tissues and wastes removed by the water that run through this pipes. This water is the BLOOD. By implication, our blood must constantly be in motion to achieve this.
     To keep our blood running through our arteries, capillaries and veins, a pump was introduced. This is our HEART. The heart pumps at a pressure that ensures that all tissues and organs of our body are adequately perfused with blood, thereby keeping us in a healthy state. However, when the heart generate a high pressure which would in turn makes our blood to exert a 'high tension' on the walls of the arteries as it flow through it, this is called HYPERTENSION. this is usually read off by a sphygmomanoter as it used to determine the 'blood pressure' in the artery of our arms. on the other hand the pressure generated by the heart is so low that the blood exert so low tension on the vessels. this is called HYPOTENSION.
     This article would focus on  HYPERTENSION.

NORMAL BLOOD PRESSURE Vs. HYPERTENSION
     For the heart to pump, it first relaxes (which doctors refer to as diastole) its muscle to get filled with blood and then contract (which doctors refer to as systole) its muscles to pump out the blood after which it relaxes to get filled again. Both phases of contraction and relaxation is called  'a cardiac cycle'.
     The blood pressure in your artery as the Heart contracts to pump out blood is called the 'Systolic blood pressure' while the blood pressure in your artery as the Heart relaxes to get filled with blood is called the 'Diastolic blood pressure'. So our blood pressure is measured in this two phases and the Unit of blood pressure is millimeter of mercury (mmHg).

Blood pressure lesser than 90/60(mmHg) marks Hypotension while that greater than 130/90(mmHg) marks Hypertension. Normal blood pressure fits in between this values.

CAUSES OF HYPERTENSION
Blood pressure (BP) itself is a product of cardiac output and the total peripheral resistance. let me explain this.
cardiac means 'the heart' and output means 'the amount of blood the  heart is pumping out'. So cardiac output means the amount of blood the heart is pumping out. The second parameter which is the total peripheral resistance simply means how narrow the caliber of the arteries into which the heart is pumping are. If the arteries are narrowed it would take the heart to generate more pressure to force blood through them to get to the tissue that its meant to supply.

So with this information in hand, let's look at the causes of hypertension. Hypertension has been classified into two types based on the causes.

1. BENIGN/PRIMARY HYPERTENSION;
This type of hypertension tend to run in families and it is the commonest type found in the older age group (50 years and above) and for the most part, it still remain difficult to point out the cause of this type of hypertension in individuals diagnosed with it and it accounts for about 90% of hypertension. Hypothesis are that, it is due to factors that increases the our cardiac output or that increases the total peripheral resistance. because blood pressure itself is dependent on this two factors itself and all these factors are usually fashioned into the management of these patients.

2. SECONDARY HYPERTENSION:
True to its name, it is secondary to an 'identifiable' systemic disease that is responsible for either raising our cardiac output or raising our total peripheral resistance.

MANIFESTATION OF HYPERTENSION

     If you are newly diagnosed with hypertension, for the most part you might not feel any symptoms at all. This doesn't imply that you are completely healthy and can continue to live with it without taking measures and medications to control it. In fact, there are series of damages going on within your blood vessels, other organs of your body, as well as your heart during this asymptomatic period. Other people might feel headaches.

COMPLICATIONS OF HYPERTENSION

     Individuals with a poorly controlled long standing hypertension might develop complications like;

1. Stroke.

2. Heart failure.

3. Visual disturbances.

4. Kidney failure.

DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
     Because it is usually asymptomatic, most diagnosis are often accidentally made during a clinic visit. Visit a hospital today and be examined. If you're hypertensive, a suitable treatment plan will be fashioned out and individualized for you. Endeavour to be regular on prescribed medication and be punctual at your follow up clinic visit so as to prevent progression to these deleterous complications.
Helpful lifestyle modifications inlcudes;
1. Eating low salt diet.
3. Adequate exercise
3. Weight control
4. Quit cigarette smoking and heavy alcohol intake.
     Nowadays, most homes now have a sphygmomanometer of their own however accurate measurement of blood pressure comes with some techniques. The next article is based on this...

CONCLUSION
Hypertension is not itself a disease but a means to an end, an end being the resulting disease from its various complications.

Hope you find this helpful. Video lecture on hypertension coming soon on my youtube channel "Gabriel fabusuyi". Thanks for stopping by. Be healthy, stay healthy and bye for now.