Heart Health
Hypertension damages the heart, brain, kidneys and eyes for years without producing a single symptom. By the time it causes a headache, the damage is usually already done.
One of the most persistent myths we encounter is that you can tell when your blood pressure is high. Patients stop their tablets because they 'feel normal', or take them only when they have a headache. Both behaviours are the reason we admit people with stroke and heart failure who could have avoided both.
Blood pressure high enough to cause headache, blurred vision or nosebleeds is already at a crisis level. The everyday range that quietly damages arteries — 140/90 to 170/100 — produces no sensation whatsoever.
A single high reading is not a diagnosis. Blood pressure should be confirmed on at least two separate occasions, measured after five minutes of rest, sitting with the back supported and the arm at heart level.
Sustained pressure forces the heart's left ventricle to thicken, which eventually stiffens it and produces heart failure. In the brain, it weakens small arteries until one bursts or blocks — this is the mechanism behind the majority of strokes we treat. In the kidneys, it scars the filtering units, and by the time creatinine rises, a substantial share of function is gone. In the eyes, it damages retinal vessels and can cause permanent visual loss.
Every one of these processes runs for years without a symptom. That is precisely why treatment is worth taking when you feel completely well.
Blood pressure medicines control rather than cure. They work only while they are in your system, which is why the pressure rises again within days of stopping. This is not addiction and it is not a sign the medicine has 'failed'.
Take the tablet at the same time daily, do not skip doses when you feel well, do not double a dose after missing one, and do not adjust the dose based on a single home reading. If side effects trouble you — cough, ankle swelling, giddiness — tell your doctor rather than stopping. There are many drug classes and an alternative almost always exists.
This article is general health education written and reviewed by the Department of Cardiology at SIMS. It is not a substitute for an examination, a diagnosis or the advice of your own treating doctor, and it cannot account for your history, medicines or reports. If a symptom is sudden or severe — chest pain, stroke symptoms, breathing difficulty, serious injury, seizures or heavy bleeding — call 9281862028 or come straight to the emergency department instead of reading further.
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