«Hypertension» - Free Essay Paper

Hypertension or high blood pressure is a condition in which blood pressure permanently increases. Hypertension is a process of blood pushing up against blood vessel walls. A person who experiences hypertension may have serious problems with his/her organs. Moreover, high blood pressure may become a reason for such illnesses as kidney failure, heart attack or aneurysm. According to the Journal of the American Academy of Neurology, high blood pressure that is experienced at the age of 30 leads to the cognitive decline in senior age (Keda, Sapienza, Guerrero, Aekplakorn, Naghavi, Mokdad, & Lim, 2014).

As a rule, a healthy person has blood pressure about 120/80 mmHg. However, if this figure is a bit higher or lower, it will not be considered hypertension since every individual has his/her own normal blood pressure. Nevertheless, blood pressure which is above 140/90 mmHg is called hypertension, while blood pressure between 120/80 mmHg and 139/89 mmHg is a prehypertension state (Keda et al., 2014). Undoubtedly, there are particular factors that cause the disease and proper ways of its treatment.

Essential and Secondary Hypertension

Hypertension is usually classified as essential or secondary. When one talks about essential hypertension, he/she usually means high blood pressure that was caused by the unknown reason. As a rule, essential hypertension happens in 95 percent of cases; other 5 percent of cases are related to secondary hypertension. Hence, secondary hypertension is the result of high blood pressure directly caused by tumors or kidney disease.

In the USA, more than 70 million adults have some problems which are connected with hypertension; among them there are 2 million teenagers and children. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that almost half of all people who have hypertension do not take their blood pressure under strict control (Go, Bauman, Coleman King, Fonarow, Lawrence, Williams, & Sanchez, 2013).

Factors that Cause Hypertension and the Way to Detect It

Hypertension is caused by several factors, which are connected with a person's health condition. Among them are obesity, smoking, diabetes, lack of physical activity, and sedentary lifestyle.

Hypertension can be identified by a health care worker by means of the special device, which is called sphygmomanometer. The received result will be compared to a chart of values, and if one has a blood pressure higher than 140/90 mmHg, he or she is considered to have hypertension. However, high blood pressure may be a temperate effect; for example, a stressful situation during exam may increase ones blood pressure (Bunker, 2014). Thus, a health care worker usually asks for a medical history not only of a patient but also of his/her family. In this way, the diagnosis will be more accurate and the secondary factors that may influence blood pressure will not be taken into account. Moreover, a health care worker should also be informed about the risk factors that can be a reason for high blood pressure; among them are high cholesterol, smoking, obesity or diabetes.

In case high blood pressure seems reasonable, one may make an electrocardiogram. The heart activity may be checked by the electronic device and thus one may identify the physical activity of the heart and its heartbeat. Moreover, a blood test will be useful to identify the impact of the secondary factors such as sugar level or cholesterol level.

The Ways of Treatment

The main principle of hypertension treatment is to reduce the level of blood pressure at least to 140/90 mmHg. In some cases, it is necessary to lower the blood pressure significantly because people who have problems with their kidney or suffer from diabetes need their blood pressure not to reach that figure. Modern therapy uses two major ways of treatment. The combination of these two ways can lead to a better result.

The first way of treatment includes the changes of person’s lifestyle and habits; among them is a balanced diet, which consists of healthy food and excludes products that contain much fat. A person is also forbidden smoking and drinking alcohol. The medical way of treatment predetermines the usage of particular drugs; among them are ARB drugs, ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, peripheral vasodilators. Some of these medicines may be used only solely, while others should be used in combination (Bunker, 2014). However, each medicine has its own characteristic and thus not every patient can take them. A health care worker decides which pills are allowed and which ones are strictly forbidden.  

Prevention Methods

Despite the fact that hypertension can be cured, specialists insist on following some recommendations in order to prevent high blood pressure. The first recommendation concerns a person’s lifestyle, which includes a balanced nutrition, regular exercises, control over personal weight, spending much time outdoors. Then it is necessary to reduce the stress level and other factors that are the reason for stress. Thus, a person should have enough free time, which he/she can spend with pleasure and, in this way, lower the stress level. Finally, one should regularly consult with doctors and undergo examinations. This way, a person may prevent the development of hypertension at the early stage.

Conclusion

Taking into consideration all the researched aspects and above-mentioned information, it can be said that hypertension depends much on person’s attitude to his/her life. Thus, this disease causes much harm only to those people who care little about their lifestyle and habits. In fact, high blood pressure is the result of people’s personal attitude to their life. The research showed two types of hypertension, the factors that cause the disease, the ways to detect it and treat, and the methods to prevent hypertension. Therefore, one can claim that the research was conducted successfully.