High blood pressure symptoms can include headaches, fatigue and spots in the eyes. These symptoms occur (often only) with severe and long-lasting high blood pressure. The medical name for high blood pressure is ‘hypertension’. Tension means ‘blood pressure’ and hyper means ‘too high’. High blood pressure is very common in Western countries and is one of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The number of people with high blood pressure increases with age: 3% of the population aged 25 to 45 have high blood pressure, 14% among 45 to 65 year olds and as many as 65 years and over. increased to more than 25%. Usually people do not notice high blood pressure for years, until a vital organ is damaged. High blood pressure often does not cause any symptoms. Only extremely high blood pressure or long-term elevated blood pressure can be immediately accompanied by headaches, shortness of breath, vision problems or dizziness.

High bloodpressure

• When does high blood pressure occur?
• Causes of high blood pressure
• Complaints of high blood pressure
• Treatment of high blood pressure

• Lifestyle advice
• Medication
• Renal denervation
• Implant

When does high blood pressure occur?

First of all, it is important to clarify when there is high blood pressure in adult men and women. A blood pressure for adults up to 80 years of age around 120/80 mmHg is normal. The blood pressure is too high if the upper pressure is 140 mmHg or higher and/or the negative pressure is 90 mmHg or higher on multiple measurements. Various measurements are needed to determine whether your blood pressure is elevated. These blood pressure measurements must take place over a period of at least 3 to 6 months. You can use the table below as a rule of thumb. This contains the different blood pressure values that are the same for both men and women:

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Causes of high blood pressure

In many cases, the cause of high blood pressure is unknown. In 1 in 20 patients, a cause can be identified and this often concerns kidney disease. It is normal for blood pressure to rise as you get older. High blood pressure is also more common in some families. Women often only experience high blood pressureafter menopause , while men can develop high blood pressure at a relatively young age. A healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of high blood pressure. A healthy lifestyle means:

• do not smoke;
• aim for a healthy weight;
• sufficient exercise;
• moderate alcohol consumption;
• little salt intake; and
• little stress.

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Complaints of high blood pressure

High blood pressure usually does not cause any symptoms. Only extremely high blood pressure or long-term elevated blood pressure can be directly associated with complaints, often as a result of damage to the brain, eyes, heart and kidneys. This may include headache, shortness of breath, fatigue, restlessness, blurred vision or spots in front of the eyes, dizziness and sometimes nausea and vomiting.You don’t even notice that your blood pressure is too high and that is the treacherous thing about it. When your blood vessels are under pressure for years , it can damage your organs, such as the heart muscle, arteries, eyes, kidneys and brain. Long-term high blood pressure leads to vessel wall damage and this in turn promotes arteriosclerosis. This causes the vessels to become less elastic and blood pressure to increase further. A vicious circle arises, which seriously threatens health.

Treatment of high blood pressure

High blood pressure can often be controlled well with a combination of dietary adjustments and medications . In patients with an underlying condition, this will have to be treated first.

Lifestyle advice

Lifestyle advice concerns:

• quitting (secondary) smoking;

Striving for or maintaining a healthy weight / Source: Istock.com/VladimirFLoyd

• lose weight, strive for a healthy weight and healthy eating;
• sodium-restricted diet;
• less alcohol; and
• exercise.

Medication

There are many dozens of medications that the doctor can prescribe for hypertension. Taking the prescribed medication faithfully is important for controlling and maintaining blood pressure.

Renal denervation

Renal denervation, also called renal artery ablation, is a fairly new method to interrupt the functioning of the nerves to and from the kidneys in a not too complicated manner without surgery. Research has shown that nerves to and from the kidney play an important role in the development of high blood pressure. This method is an effective treatment for patients with difficult-to-treat blood pressure who receive little or no benefit from medication or experience many side effects. Using a catheter technique, the nerves surrounding the arteries of the kidneys are interrupted. This can lower blood pressure.

Implant

Since 2017, a stent-like implant can be placed in the carotid artery in patients with difficult-to-treat high blood pressure. With this unique, spring-loaded implant, a significant drop in blood pressure of up to 24 points occurs immediately after placement and is sustained. Patients indicate that they are more vital, suffer fewer side effects and have fewer headaches. This is evident from a study into the effects of applying the implant in the carotid artery.

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• High blood pressure treatment: medications and lifestyle
• Blood pressure values: age and table man, woman and elderly