Hypertension

What is hypertension?

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, occurs when the pressure against your artery walls is too high. Over time, it can lead to problems with your heart, including heart disease, stroke, heart attack, or heart failure. 

Because hypertension usually doesn’t cause symptoms, having routine screenings is important. Treatment and managing your blood pressure significantly lower your risk of complications.

What are the risk factors associated with hypertension?

Hypertension has numerous risk factors, such as:

• Family history of high blood pressure
• Older age
• Overweight and obesity
• Physical inactivity
• Excessive alcohol
• Smoking
• Too little dietary potassium
• Too much dietary sodium
• High stress levels
• Diabetes, sleep apnea, and kidney disease
• Pregnancy
  
  

Along with high cholesterol and smoking, hypertension is a key risk factor for heart attack and stroke. 

Additional complications that can develop with untreated hypertension include aneurysms, heart failure, kidney failure, dementia, metabolic syndrome, narrowed blood vessels, or other blood vessel disorders.

How is hypertension diagnosed?

At Madison Avenue Cardiovascular, Dr. Meyer uses a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope or blood pressure machine to diagnose hypertension, determine its severity, and develop a treatment plan.

Dr. Meyer also completes a physical exam and might recommend blood tests, an electrocardiogram (EKG), echocardiogram, or other diagnostic tests to screen you for additional heart disease risk factors or heart problems.

How is hypertension treated? 

If you have hypertension, Dr. Meyer works with you to develop a treatment plan that matches your needs. He might recommend:

• Weight loss
• Quitting smoking
• Changing your diet
• Limiting alcohol
• Regular exercise

In the vast majority of cases, hypertension responds to lifestyle changes. Dr. Meyer takes an integrative medicine approach, so your treatment may also include stress relief, meditation, and yoga, along with other alternative treatments. 

In some cases, you may need medications such as diuretics, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, or other types of antihypertensive drugs. You may need a combination of two different drugs, along with lifestyle changes, to keep your blood pressure at a healthy level.

Dr. Meyer may recommend daily blood pressure monitoring at home. Although it’s normal to have some minor variations in your blood pressure from day to day, you should let Dr. Meyer know about any significant changes (especially blood pressure spikes) right away.

If you’re at risk of high blood pressure or have a hypertension diagnosis, schedule a screening with Dr. Meyer at Madison Avenue Cardiovascular by phone or online today.