The risk of heart disease rises over time as a consequence of high blood pressure. Effective medications (antihypertensive medicine). for lowering blood pressure can be. The advantages of these medications increase with elevated blood pressure. But other additional variables might affect the chance of long-term health effects.

 

Opting to take high blood pressure medications is a long-term choice. So it's important to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the various therapy alternatives. Everybody has the right to choose whether or not to take medication to decrease their blood pressure, and doctors are required to explain the benefits and drawbacks of various therapies to you if you want to know about them. 

 

Losing weight, consuming less salt, and increasing activity are generally effective in lowering mildly elevated blood pressure. Treatment with antihypertensive medicine is taken into consideration if the above medicines are insufficiently successful. Some people might decide to take medicine pretty much immediately.

 

Risks associated with high blood pressure:

 

Both your doctor and you together can determine your own risk of getting cardiovascular disease. You must assess your present levels of blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar as well as the specifics of each risk factor. Your risk level is determined by entering this data into a computer program. The figure is based on information from studies that tracked thousands of participants over an extended period.

 

You will be given a percentage indicating how likely it is that you will get a heart attack or stroke during the following ten years.

 

Making healthy lifestyle modifications is advocated for anybody with high blood pressure. Depending on your blood pressure level and your likelihood of experiencing issues like heart attacks or strokes, medication may also be advised.

 

To assess your risk of developing more issues, your doctor will do several tests of blood and urine and ask you health-related questions. 

 

The advice and treatment will vary as follows:

• You will be recommended to adjust your lifestyle if your blood pressure is persistently over 140/90mmHg (or 135/85mmHg at home), but your likelihood of other issues is minimal.
• You will be prescribed medication to control your blood pressure together with lifestyle adjustments if it is persistently above 140/90mmHg (or 135/85mmHg at home) and your risk of additional disorders is high.
• If your blood pressure is persistently higher than 160/100 mmHg, you may be prescribed medication to decrease it along with lifestyle adjustments.

 

Treatment and medications:

 

Adjusting your way of life can help you manage and control high blood pressure. Your doctor could advise you to adopt new lifestyle practices like - consuming a salt-free, heart-healthy diet, Performing regular exercise, Keeping a healthy weight or reducing it, limits on alcohol, not smoking, and sleeping 7 to 9 hours every day.

 

Sometimes modifying one's lifestyle is insufficient to control high blood pressure. If these are ineffective, your doctor could suggest taking blood pressure medication.

 

The sort of medication taken to treat hypertension is based on both the severity of the condition as well as your general health. Often, two or more blood pressure medications are more effective than one. Finding the drug or drug combination that works best for you might take some time.

 

Knowing your target blood pressure is crucial while taking blood pressure medication. High blood pressure can be managed using a variety of medications.

 

If you are under 55 years old, an ACE inhibitor or an angiotensin-2 receptor blocker (ARB) will often be recommended. If you are 55 years old or older, or if you are of African or Caribbean descent, you will typically be recommended a calcium channel blocker.

 

Importance of medications:

 

You are more likely to gain benefits from antihypertensive medicine the higher your blood pressure is. The risk of cardiovascular disease is so significant if you have extremely high blood pressure that doctors typically advise starting medication right once. For systolic blood pressure readings exceeding 180 mmHg, this is the situation.

 

Nasal bleeding, headaches, and dizziness might be signs of blood pressure that is much higher than 200/100 mmHg over an extended period. However, that's uncommon, and these symptoms are typically brought on by other factors.

 

If you experience more severe symptoms that might indicate an emergency, such as a heart attack or stroke, it's important to keep calm, lie down and call for an ambulance. Getting medical treatment, or ideally, having someone else obtain it for you is important. Chest discomfort, vision problems, or speech issues may be among these symptoms.