Some other factors with an unfavorable outcome in hypertension are: gender, untreated persistent high diastolic blood pressure, advancing age, smoking, diabetes, other associated chronic illnesses, and elevated blood cholesterol levels. Your risk for developing high blood pressure is high if you are an African American. African Americans may get it earlier in life and more often than White Americans. In addition, your risks for getting high blood pressure increases as you grow older (Jacob, 2004). I. Risk Factors A number of health –related behaviors contribute remarkably to the onset cardiovascular disease.
Smokers are two times as likely to have a heart attack as non-smokers, and one fifth of the annual 1,000,000 deaths from hypertension can be attributed to smoking. A sedentary lifestyle increases one’s risk of hypertension. However, America remains predominantly sedentary, and more than half of American adults do not practice the recommended level of physical activity, while more than one-fourth are completely sedentary. Between 20-30%, approximately 58 million people, of the nation’s adults are obese. Obesity severely increases risk for not only hypertension but also other organ deceases that have been proven to cause heart disease.
(Mosby’s, 2006, p. 305). II. Sign and symptoms Since hypertension does not have any signs or symptoms it is usually undetectable. Doctors usually incidentally finds hypertension then diagnoses accordingly (Perry and Potter, 2006, P. 599). The later phase of hypertension, also called malignant hypertension can cause headaches, blurred vision and end-organ damage (Mosby’s, 2006, p. 924). Hypertension is classified as malignant hypertension when there is an increase of intracranial pressure, which can eventually cause health problems like papilledema (Mosby’s, 2006, p. 924).
Since hypertension is undetectable increasing the awareness and screening of the public is the key to early detection. Detecting hypertension early, before the critical organs get damaged can only be done by regular blood pressure checks (Makoff, 2006). When hypertension affects the heart is causes it to increase the work load. An increased workload of the heart can cause hypertrophy that could lead to an angina and heart failure (Cardiovascular disorders, 1984, Pp. 62, 63). When hypertension affects the brain it decreases the amount of oxygen the brain receives.
Decreased oxygenation of the brain tissues can lead to alterations in mobility, speech and vision. Paralysis and memory deficit are also a result of not enough oxygen getting to the brain (Cardiovascular disorders, 1984, Pp. 62, 63). When hypertension affects the kidneys it causes a decrease in oxygenation and perfusion which can result in edemas and azotemias (Cardiovascular disorders, 1984, Pp. 62, 63). When the peripheral blood vessels get affected by hypertension they begin to have weakening arterial walls and decreased perfusion which can lead to aneurisms, hemorrhages and even gangrene (Cardiovascular disorders, 1984, Pp. 62, 63).
When the eyes are affected by hypertension it decreases perfusion and increases the pressure of the arterioles which can lead to blurred vision, spots in vision and even blindness (Cardiovascular disorders, 1984, Pp. 62, 63). III. Diagnosis Blood pressure checks are performed by a sphygmomanometer, also known as a blood pressure cuff. The cuff is wrapped around the upper arm and inflated with air. The pressure of the cuff cuts off the flow of the brachial artery (Perry and Potter, 2006, Pp. 601-605). As the air pressure is released the health professional listens to the pulse over the artery at the front of the elbow with a stethoscope.
The first pulse heard is the systolic pressure and the last pulse heard is the diastolic pressure (Perry and Potter, 2006, Pp. 601-605). There are also mechanical blood pressure devices that do not require a health professional to take the reading with a stethoscope. The mechanical blood pressure reading can be done independently where these machines are accessible to the public. Mechanical blood pressure monitors are also found in hospitals on pediatric and geriatric units (Perry and Potter, 2006, Pp. 601-605).