Hypertension Part 2

Stages of Hypertension

Normal BP is defined as <>160/>100.
Medication therapy should be begun in addition to lifestyle modifications in these patients. Patients with BP greater than 180/110 often require more than one medication to adequately control their BP. Generally these patients need frequent levels of follow-up to make sure the BP is responding adequately.

Patients with BP of 200/120 or greater require immediate therapy and, if symptomatic end-organ damage is present, they require hospitalization.

Isolated systolic hypertension is defined as a systolic (top number) BP of greater than 140. It occurs frequently in the elderly (beginning in the 50's and 60's) and increases with age.
Lifestyle modifications should be tried first. If this fails, then medication should be used to lower the systolic BP to less than 140. These patients need to be assessed fairly frequently to monitor tolerance of the medications.

Life style modifications include cessation of smoking, weight loss, judicious consumption of alcohol, and exercise as tolerated and prescribed by your physician.

Examples of target organ disease include the following:
Aneurysmal dilation, accelerated atherosclerosis, or aortic dissection;
Pulmonary edema (CHF) or myocardial infarction (MI or heart attack);
Evidence of coronary artery disease (hardening of the arteries around the heart), enlarged heart;
Bleeding stroke, coma, seizures, mental status changes (confusion), stroke, mini-strokes;
Renal failure, protein or blood in the urine;
Changes in the eyes suggestive of damage from high blood pressure.

Diabetes carries special weight in relation to risks from high blood pressure because both act together in damaging the blood vessels.

If you have high blood pressure and feel you need more information about the disease or your treatment, please feel free to call for an appointment. We will be happy to make sure you have all the information you need to help care for your disease.

If you need to have your blood pressure checked, please come by during regular hours. We offer free blood pressure checks on a walk-in basis for patients and the general community. If you would like to check your monitor against ours, bring it with you and we will check your blood pressure on both machines, and manually if needed, to correlate your blood pressure monitor.

Hypertension Part 1

Most are aware of high blood pressure and its effects on the body.
If you have a blood pressure higher than 120/80 these days, it is best to get it seen about.
Any blood pressure readings that are higher than this can lead to long term problems if not followed and addressed.
Blood pressure may not require medications until it reaches 140/90 for most people; however, there are certain groups that should be treated at lower levels.
People that may need earlier treatment include
Diabetics
Kidney disease patients
Heart disease patients
As well, there may be other problems going on that can be found and treated earlier as well. If you find that you have an elevated blood pressure, you owe it to yourself and your health to see your family doctor and get checked out.