Idiopathic hypertension - A dangerous disease of old age

The article was professionally consulted by Doctor Pham Tuyet Trinh - Cardiovascular Center, Vinmec Times City International General Hospital.

Idiopathic hypertension is a common disease in the elderly, difficult to detect and treat. Vinmec Hospital will give you basic knowledge about this disease.

1. What is essential hypertension?

Normal blood pressure of a healthy person is less than 140/90 mmHg, if blood pressure is 140/90 mmHg it is called hypertension. Idiopathic hypertension, that is, with no identifiable cause; Hypertension has a very low etiological cause and is secondary to a number of diseases. In particular, essential hypertension is common in the elderly, from 40 to 50 years of age and older.
Idiopathic hypertension accounts for about 95% of cases.

Symptoms of essential hypertension

Some common symptoms of high blood pressure
Dizziness Nosebleed Headache Headache Chest tightness Blood in urine Changes in vision

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If you experience abnormal symptoms on suspicion of high blood pressure, you need to go to the nearest medical facility, to accurately determine your health status and cardiovascular, blood pressure.
Vinmec experts always advise: "Prevention is better than cure". Because when essential hypertension causes obvious symptoms, the patient's chance of survival is very low.

2. Complications of essential hypertension

Permanently damaged arteries

Healthy arteries lead to good, unobstructed blood circulation. Long-term high blood pressure causes damaged arteries to become less elastic, stiffer, and tighter. Because of this, fats in the blood also easily accumulate in the arteries, gradually restricting blood flow, causing blockages, high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes.

Heart complications due to high blood pressure

High blood pressure always causes the heart to work too hard, the higher the blood pressure, the harder the heart muscle has to pump, more effort. Over time, the heart is dilated, to a certain extent increases the risk of: arrhythmia, heart failure, heart attack, sudden death...

Brain complications

The brain, like other organs in the body, needs oxygen-rich blood to be pumped by the heart, but the brain always needs a huge amount of blood. High blood pressure can reduce the blood supply to the brain, causing transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). If the blood flow is significantly blocked for a long time, it can cause brain cells to die, causing a stroke.

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Complications outside the heart and brain

When blood pressure increases, it will lead to increased filtration pressure on the kidney organization, eventually causing kidney failure. In the eye can cause complications of fundus edema, fundus bleeding, vision loss, blindness.
Uncontrolled hypertension can also affect the ability to remember, communicate and reason. Treatment for high blood pressure does not completely reverse the effects already caused, but it does help reduce risks for the future.
When detecting the symptoms of high blood pressure, you need to go to the hospital early to accurately determine the cause and diagnose the disease, thereby giving a remedy.

3. When you have essential hypertension, what should you do?

During acute episodes of hypertension:
First, rest for 15 minutes. After that, measure your blood pressure again, you can use supportive medicine if it has been prescribed by a doctor before or contact your doctor to take medicine. Relax your body, keep your mind stable, don't get too emotional, don't talk much, especially in quarrels and psychological shock. Do not drink ginger juice, lemonade or eat sugary foods. These methods do not work, and even make blood pressure higher. If after resting, the blood pressure does not decrease, the patient should be taken to the hospital for timely treatment to avoid bad complications.

4. How to treat essential hypertension?

Idiopathic hypertension is due to the inability to determine the exact cause, so the treatment is also difficult, sometimes it can only overcome the symptoms without completely solving the problem.

In mild idiopathic hypertension

Mild idiopathic hypertension may not require drug treatment, your doctor will recommend lifestyle changes as well as ways to prevent sudden increases in blood pressure, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease...

In case of severe idiopathic hypertension

Increased blood pressure means that the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the next 10 years is over 20%, a fairly high rate, so the use of drugs to treat, overcome and prevent complications. The treatment is a combination of prescription and lifestyle changes, some of the commonly used classes of drugs are:
Diuretic group Calcium channel blockers Beta blocker group Drugs that act on the central nervous system Enzyme inhibitors Angiotensin receptor agonist and inhibitor.

In case of severe essential hypertension

If hypertension is severe, blood pressure reaches 180/110 mmHg is an extremely dangerous signal, the patient needs to be transferred to a specialist for treatment. As at Vinmec, there is a specialized treatment department that will help you overcome the disease, minimizing dangerous complications that damage the heart and brain.

Note when treating essential hypertension

Patients who already have high blood pressure need to strictly follow all instructions given by their doctor about drug use, diet and work. Do not arbitrarily stop taking medication when your blood pressure temporarily returns to normal without consulting your doctor.
In addition, hypertensive patients do not arbitrarily buy drugs for treatment and use without the instructions and monitoring of doctors. network.

In the diet, people with high blood pressure also need to eat less salt, limit pickled foods with a lot of salt, foods of animal viscera such as pig intestines, heart, liver, kidneys, blood soup, skin of all kinds. skin... because they can increase cholesterol, triglycerides, cause dyslipidemia and lead to dangerous cardiovascular risks.
If you are overweight, obese, losing weight is a prerequisite, cutting sugar, adjusting portion sizes and monitoring blood pressure regularly. Idiopathic hypertension develops silently but can take your life and health at any time.
If you need more advice and examination at Vinmec Health System Hospitals nationwide, please book an appointment on the website for service.

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