Hypertension: Impact, Causes, Symptoms, and Management in the UK

This report provides an overview of hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure, highlighting its nature as a silent killer due to the lack of noticeable symptoms. It discusses the safe range of blood pressure, the prevalence of hypertension in the UK, and its global impact, noting that it affects approximately 1.28 billion adults worldwide. The report identifies poor dietary choices, such as excessive salt and saturated fat intake, as primary causes, along with low physical activity, obesity, and family history. Management strategies include reducing salt intake, adopting healthy eating habits, engaging in regular physical activities, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco. The report also outlines potential complications like angina, heart attack, stroke, and heart failure, emphasizing the importance of regular blood pressure checks and awareness of symptoms like headaches, nosebleeds, and vision changes. The report references multiple research papers to support its claims.

HEALTHY LIFESTYLE FOR HEALTHY HEART BEAT
Hypertension called as high blood pressure in general language is a disorder that leads to exertion on excess pressure on the walls of
veins and arteries. It is basically the pressure that the blood flowing through the blood vessels exerts on the walls of vessels. If the blood
is flowing with increased pressure within the veins more pressure will be exerted which might result in rupturing the vessels.
Prevalence of Hypertension in UK
Hypertension has become a public health issue with about
1.28 billion adults of age ranging between 30-79 worldwide
are suffering from hypertension. United Kingdom is one of
the leading nation in context of number of cases of
hypertension and is the third biggest risk factor after poor
dietary choices and smoking. Every one in three adults in
England is suffering from this issue contributing to 31 percent
of men and 26 percent of females having this health issue.
Safe range of Blood pressure
Blood pressure being the force that the blood flowing exerts on the walls of the veins is written in two numbers that is the systolic and
the diastolic numbers. The systolic blood pressure should be less than 140 mm Hg and the diastolic pressure should be less than 90 mm
Hg and ideal reading is considered to be between 90/60 mm Hg and 120/80 mm HG.
Death tolls
The disorder is considered to be a “silent killer” as it does not show any major symptoms that can be noticed by the patient to identify
hypertension. This is the reason that almost half of the population having hypertension is not knowing about the prevalence of the
disease and thus does not receive treatment for the same. This disorder is the major reason of death worldwide with a number of around
7.6 million deaths per annum.
Causes
The health issue of hypertension is mainly due to the poor
dietary choices which has become extremely common
nowadays. The poor lifestyle choices of people are not only
leading to hypertension but also causing various other
diseases like obesity, metabolic disorders etc. the major
dietary factor that contributes to increasing the blood
pressure are
 excessive consumption of salt
 consumption of foods having high content of
saturated fatty acids
 low intake of fruits and vegetables and hence
low fiber intake
 high consumption of alcohol and tobacco
These all can result in decreases in the lumen of blood
vessels may be due constriction of blood vessels or
accumulation of cholesterol on the insides of vessels
resulting in less space available for the blood to flow. Other
than these low physical activity, prevalence of additional
diseases like obesity and family history are some additional
reasons that can cause an elevation in the blood pressure
levels.
Symptoms related to the disorder
Though the disease does not have any major warning signs and
symptoms making it a silent killer therefore, it is necessary to get
the blood pressure check on a regular basis.
But there are some noticeable symptoms which are general in
nature but can be utilized to assume the elevation in blood
pressure and can be taken as a sign to get the blood pressure
checked. These include:
 Episodes of early morning headaches
 Frequent nosebleeds
 Irregular heart rhythms
 Sudden changes in the vision
These symptoms can be considered the symptoms of onset of
hypertension and in case of severe hypertension symptoms can
appear as fatigue, nausea, confused and dizzy state of mind,
vomiting, anxiety, chest pain and tremors in the muscles.
Complication linked with Hypertension
Increased pressure of the blood flowing is capable of causing
wide spread damage in the body. The vessels can become rigid
which will contribute to increased chances of vessels getting
ruptured. As the heart has to do extra work to pump blood
through the constricted vessels, there are chances of damage to
the heart muscles because of exertion due to extra load.
Hypertension can also cause damage to the other parts of the
body by not allowing proper supply of oxygen to distant tissue of
the body. These all can result in major complications like
 Angina
 Heart attack or stroke
 Heart failure
 Irregular heart beats
Management
 Reduction in salt intake
 Choosing healthy eating habits
 Indulging in regular physical activities
 Avoiding alcohol and tobacco
 Eliminating consumption of saturated and trans
REFERENCES
Mills, K.T., Stefanescu, A. and He, J., 2020. The global epidemiology of
hypertension. Nature Reviews Nephrology, 16(4), pp.223-237.
Armstrong, I., Billings, C., Kiely, D.G., Yorke, J., Harries, C., Clayton, S.
and Gin-Sing, W., 2019. The patient experience of pulmonary hypertension:
a large cross-sectional study of UK patients. BMC pulmonary
medicine, 19(1), pp.1-9.
Wajngarten, M. and Silva, G.S., 2019. Hypertension and stroke: update on
treatment. European Cardiology Review, 14(2), p.111.