Recognizing the Warning Signs of a Hypertensive Emergency

 Blood transports oxygen and nutrients throughout the body, and that movement is only possible through the steady blood pressure delivered from your heart to the veins, arteries, blood vessels, and capillaries. Like a plumbing system, blood flows steadily, providing nutrients and oxygen to organs, tissues, and other body parts.

Blood pressure changes all the time for a variety of reasons, but chronic problems with too much force in the blood flow, known as high blood pressure or hypertension, can be dangerous to your health. Among the many complications is a hypertensive crisis, which presents a significant risk to your cardiovascular health.

To understand the risk of this condition and learn the symptoms to observe, Dr. Shruti Patel and the dedicated staff at Low Cost Health Clinics want to inform residents of Anaheim, Riverside, Santa Ana, Corona, and Indio, California, to help keep them healthy and safe. 

Hypertension facts

While a normal blood pressure reading is considered healthy, changes in it can occur due to factors such as dietary habits, physical activity, and stress. High amounts of sodium, smoking, and alcohol consumption increase the risk of hypertension, and any of these factors can lead to cardiovascular disease over time if hypertension becomes chronic.

You could be struggling with one of several types of hypertension, including primary, which stems from family history or results from aging, or secondary, which stems from other medical problems or medication. 

Some situations also cause blood pressure changes, such as what is known as white coat hypertension, where things are normal at home but change during medical exams.

Defining a hypertensive crisis

We measure blood pressure in millimeters of mercury, and the numbers you hear during a blood pressure check indicate the systolic and diastolic pressures, or the pressure on arterial walls during contractions and between heartbeats, respectively. Regular blood pressure readings are at 120 systolic and 80 diastolic or below (which looks like 120/80 or 120 over 80).

Anything higher than that is considered high blood pressure, ranging from elevated to several stages of high levels, and the worst is 180/120 or higher, which qualifies as a hypertensive emergency.

Warning signs to look for

When blood pressure gets this high and stays there, it becomes life-threatening, so when you see symptoms like blurred vision, confusion, chest pain, vomiting, nausea, seizures, shortness of breath, severe headaches, and unresponsiveness, get emergency help immediately. 

If this condition leads to stroke, you can also experience tingling, numbness, problems walking and speaking, vision changes, and loss of feeling in several parts of one side of the body, including your face, arms, and legs.

Keeping blood pressure under control means taking the proper steps to stay healthy. For ways to prevent hypertensive crisis or to deal with it when it happens, contact Dr. Patel and the Low Cost Health Clinics as soon as possible.