When your physician told you that you had high blood pressure did you understand what he was saying. No doubt you heard the numbers defining the levels of your pressure and that they placed you in a category above normal but did you understand what it was all about or did your doctor take the time to explain everything to you. Often being told you have hypertension is quite a traumatic event, not on a par with being told you have cancer or some other life threatening disease, but traumatic nevertheless. Although it can indeed be life threatening. It just never appears as being an imminent threat. We always think we have time which is really crazy because you never know when a heart attack or stroke might hit you especially if you have had it for a while.

It is often only when you get home that it begins to sink in and you begin thinking of all the questions you should have asked at the time. What does this mean? How does that affect me? You know, all those sorts of questions. To help you out here are some of the more common terms used when talking about high blood pressure.

* Hypotension – this means you have low blood pressure.
* Hypertension – this is the same as saying you have high blood pressure and refers to measurements above 140/90.
* Systolic Pressure – systolic pressure is the force, experienced by the walls of your arteries, when the heart beats pushing the blood around your body. This is measured in terms of millimeters of mercury. (more…)

Hypertension, otherwise known as high blood pressure affects millions of people worldwide. For years, some medical providers have suspected that the two interact in a tangible way. Recently, a medical study has emerged that brings supporting evidence to this claim.

A national multi-center study from 2000 confirmed a possible connection between sleep apnea and hypertension (high blood pressure) in both older and middle-aged adults. The study, found those who suffer from moderate to severe cases were at increased risk of hypertension.

The study involved more than 6,000 adult men and women age 40 or older. The presence of the sleep disorder was detected using polysomnography, which simultaneously records brain waves, heart waves, blood oxygen levels, and breathing rate while a person sleeps. A team of technicians visited each participant at home in the evening and measured blood pressure and weight, as well as other health parameters, and then connected the person to a sleep monitor. The average number of breathing pauses per hour of sleep was used to measure the degree of sleep apnea. (more…)

Unfortunately, in a lot of cases high blood pressure and hypertension is often undetectable until without a visit to the doctor (perhaps this is why they call it the ’silent killer’). However, there are certain symptoms that many hypertension sufferers say they have experienced.

Nose – People with hypertension problems often have nose bleeds and nasal pains. Their blood problems are responsible for carrying more blood than usual to the nose, where it leaks out.

Eyes – In a similar manner, hypertension can force too much blood into the eyes. Patients afflicted with hypertension often have overly bloodshot and reddened eyes. In severe cases, the build up of blood can become so severe that arteries in the eye burst. Signs of blurry or impaired vision may be an early warning of hypertension.

Fatigue – Hypertension can result in people experiencing insomnia and being unable to sleep at night. Because of this, they lack energy during the day and get tired easily. The odd sleepless night in itself is probably nothing to worry about, but if experienced in tandem with other symptoms it could be a sign of high blood pressure. (more…)