Common sense of hypertension:
Hypertension is one of the most common cardiovascular diseases and a major risk factor for common diseases that cause human death, such as stroke, coronary heart disease, and heart failure. Medicine refers to persistent elevation of arterial blood pressure as hypertension. The diagnostic criteria are defined as hypertension when the systolic blood pressure is greater than 140mmHg and (or) the diastolic blood pressure is greater than 90mmHg without taking anti-hypertensive drugs. However, it should be noted that blood pressure varies within a certain range in the general population, with some people having higher pressures and others having lower pressures. Using any single blood pressure level to distinguish normal blood pressure from hypertension is an artificial standard.
How does blood pressure form?
There is a comprehensive piping system throughout the human body called the circulatory system. Through this system, blood delivers the oxygen and nutrients required for life and various activities to all parts of the body, and carries away the waste produced after being used. The circulatory system consists of the heart, blood vessels (arteries, veins, capillaries, etc.), with the heart acting as a power spring, and arteries and veins being equivalent to pipes. The heart continuously pumps fresh blood into the arteries, which then branch off into smaller arteries, eventually connecting to capillaries.
Capillaries are the sites of substance exchange, connecting arteries to receive nutrients and connecting veins to carry away waste. As the carrier of nutrients and waste, blood flows continuously in the vessels. Just as tap water needs a certain pressure to be delivered to every household, blood also needs a certain pressure to flow in the vessels. Blood pressure is the side pressure formed by the blood on the vessel wall when it flows in the vessel. We know that when a blood vessel is damaged, blood will spray out from the damaged area, which is the result of the pressure of the vessel wall acting on the blood.
What is systolic pressure and what is diastolic pressure?
Usually, the pressure inside arteries is called arterial pressure, the pressure inside veins is called venous pressure, and the pressure inside capillaries is called capillary pressure. The blood pressure that we usually talk about refers to arterial pressure. When the heart contracts, the pressure generated inside the large arteries is relatively high, which we call systolic pressure, or what is commonly referred to as high blood pressure. When the heart relaxes, the blood pressure is relatively low, and this pressure is called diastolic pressure, or what is commonly referred to as low blood pressure. The difference between the high and low pressures between systolic and diastolic pressures is called pulse pressure.
What are the two types of hypertension?
High blood pressure can be divided into two types based on its etiology, namely essential hypertension and secondary hypertension. Secondary hypertension, also known as symptomatic hypertension, refers to hypertension that has a specific identifiable cause. In this case, high blood pressure is merely one of the clinical manifestations of the primary disease. Many patients can be cured by treating the primary disease, and some who cannot be cured can still be controlled or receive targeted treatment through various reasonable therapeutic methods. However, if the underlying disease causing secondary hypertension is not detected and treated in a timely manner, the consequences may be more severe than those of essential hypertension, with a higher proportion of disability and mortality.
According to statistics, about one in 20 hypertensive patients has secondary hypertension. There are many diseases that can cause secondary hypertension, the most common of which are related to the respiratory system, kidney, endocrine, pregnancy, and drugs. Professional knowledge is needed to make a judgment. The purpose of mentioning some knowledge of secondary hypertension is to provide various medical history and symptoms to the treating physician, so that the physician can make a timely diagnosis and treatment based on the clinical characteristics and obtained information. Primary hypertension refers to a group of hypertension that cannot be attributed to any specific cause after excluding secondary hypertension, and it is also the focus of our introduction to hypertension.
Why do people get hypertension?
Although the exact cause of primary hypertension is not fully understood, there are three widely recognized risk factors that play a significant role: overweight and obesity, high-salt diet, and moderate to heavy alcohol consumption. Other possible factors that may contribute to hypertension include genetics, stress, smoking, blood viscosity, hyperlipidemia, socioeconomic and psychological factors, age, and gender.
