Symptoms of High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure also known as hypertension is sometimes reffered to as the "silent killer" because the symtoms are minimal to none in a wide variety of cases. In cases where symtoms are present they may inlcude; an increase in your pulse rate, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, headaches/dizziness, nausea and an obscure or clouded vision.

If you are overweight and appear to be in good health you could easily be a victim. On the contrary a friend of mine who wasn't even overweight and who I thought was in top condition suffered from extremely high blood pressure and cholesterol and eventually had to undergo triple bypass surgery! And this is someone who is very active in sports and said he felt fine other than shortness of breath on occassion.

The best way to know and combat hypertension is to get your blood pressure checked on a regular basis, if you don't you run the risk of leaving yourself open to an array of chronic illnesses and diseases. These may include but are not limited to heart disease which is the number one killer in the US and even cancer to name a few.

Cause of High Blood Pressure

To keep it simple high blood pressure is caused from blood flow at extremely high rates through your arteries. Hypertension forms and occurs for a number of reasons, majority of them stem from an improper diet. Studies show that 90% of high blood pressure problems come from poor diet and eating habits. Other causes may include a high intakes of sodium (to much salt), obesity and overeating, emotional stress and believe it or not too much caffiene or consuming too much coffee.

More than 60 million Americans suffer from hypertension or high blood pressure. Several factors you should be aware of or stay on top of are your blood pressure readings during your check-up which your doctor will probably tell you anyway. A positive/normal blood pressure reading for an adult may fall in the range of 110/70 - 140/90 which goes up to a certain degree as you get older. Anything above 160/90 - 160/95 is considered to be on the verge of getting hypertension such as 180/115 which is considered extremely high.

Other complications you may experience as a result of hypertension are; heart disease, stroke, coronary artery disease and kidney disease. Learn about some helpful hypertension resources here.