HYPERTENSION
Behaviors like high stress with no relief and eating lots of salt can contribute to a condition called hypertension, or high blood pressure. At Reliant MD Group in Leesburg, Virginia, Suman Manchireddy, MD, FACP, FHM, and the rest of the team can read your blood pressure, help you monitor it, and find ways to reduce it to avoid health problems.
Hypertension is a medical term for high blood pressure. If the pressure of your blood against the walls of your arteries is too high, it can cause damage and health problems over time. Factors that determine your blood pressure include the amount of blood your heart pumps and any resistance from your arteries to the blood flow.
One of the most daunting details about hypertension is its lack of symptoms. You can go for years with high blood pressure without ever knowing of the damage that it causes in your vessels.
That’s why it’s important for your provider to check your blood pressure each time you visit Reliant MD Group and to come in for regular physical exams. If your provider finds that your blood pressure is high, they can easily treat it.
Hypertension can damage your blood vessels, heart, and many other organs in your body. If you don’t discover that you have hypertension early and start treating it, it can lead to these serious health complications:
- Aneurysm
- Heart failure
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Metabolic syndrome
- Kidney problems
- Eye damage
- Memory problems and dementia
You’re at a higher-than-average risk of getting hypertension if you’re older, obese, drink lots of alcohol, eat a lot of sodium, or use tobacco. Before these complications occur, your provider can help you monitor your blood pressure and adjust your lifestyle to reduce your chances of getting hypertension.
If your provider at Reliant MD Group discovers that you have hypertension or related illnesses, they’ll start your treatment right away. To reduce your blood pressure and lower your chances of complications from hypertension, your provider might suggest:
Lifestyle changes
To start your hypertension treatment, your provider makes suggestions based on your current lifestyle that may help reduce your blood pressure. They might recommend that you watch the sodium in your diet, stop smoking, or find a way to relieve stress.
Medications
If lifestyle changes alone aren’t enough to reduce your blood pressure, your provider might prescribe a medication to lower it. Certain medications can block hormones related to your blood pressure, relax the walls of your arteries, or help flush sodium from your system.
To get treatment for hypertension and its related illnesses, call Reliant MD Group or book an appointment online today.