What is high blood pressure?
High blood pressure is condition in which blood exerts too much pressure on the walls of blood vessels. Pressure can rise and stay too high – damaging blood vessels, the heart, brain, eyes, and other vital organs.
Blood pressure (BP) is generally expressed as one number over another. The top number is the systolic BP or the pressure on arteries as the heart contracts or beats. The bottom number is the diastolic BP or the pressure on arteries as the heart relaxes between beats. Hypertension is present when the blood pressure is at or above 140 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg – the units for measuring blood pressure) for the systolic BP and at or above 90 mm Hg for diastolic BP. Persons with systolic BP between 120 to 139 mm Hg or diastolic BP between 80 to 89 mm Hg are labeled as having “prehypertension,” recognizing that these persons are at an increased risk for cardiovascular events and for developing overt hypertension.
Who gets high blood pressure?
More than 65 million Americans are estimated to have high blood pressure (HBP). HBP is indiscriminate – it affects people of any age, racial and ethnic group, thin people, young people, and people from all walks of life. Until age 55, men are at greater risk than women for developing HBP, while after age 74, women are affected more often than men. People at increased risk for developing HBP include African Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban and Mexican Americans, as well as those who are overweight, or who have kidney disease or coronary heart disease.
What are the symptoms of high blood pressure?
Unfortunately, most people with HBP have no symptoms and do not even realize that they have it – this is why hypertension is called ‘the silent killer. Occasionally, HBP can cause headache or dizziness, but this is not common. Sometimes the first sign of HBP is a stroke.
What are the consequences of high blood pressure?
HBP contributes to thousands of death every year, mostly due stroke, heart attack, heart failure, and kidney disease. Successful treatment of HBP greatly reduces risk.
When and where should I seek treatment?
Always seek treatment from a center that offers a multidisciplinary approach and which has access to the very latest treatment options. The Hypertension Center at the Cleveland Clinic is one such center that brings together, in multidisciplinary fashion, experts from many fields including nephrology, cardiology, endocrinology, pharmacology, and surgery.
The doctors and paramedical personnel working in the Hypertension Center have vast experience in detecting unusual causes of HBP, the latest technological advances in measuring and monitoring blood pressure, and are devoted to quick and easy access in evaluating and treating patients with HBP. And we analyze our treatment outcomes to ensure that our patients are getting the best blood pressure control rates possible.
Center For Clinical Hypertension
Emmanuel L. Bravo, MD
Phillip M. Hall, MD
Robert J. Heyka, MD
Joeseph V. Nally Jr., MD
Marc A. Pohl, MD
Martin J. Schreiber, MD
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