Hypertension headache: How to identify if high blood pressure is the cause
More than 410,000 Americans died from high blood pressure complications in 2014, attributing to more than 1,100 deaths per day.
High blood pressure can also lead to a condition called hypertension headache. Often occurring in episodes, headaches due to high blood pressure are typically quite severe and occur when blood pressure is 200/100 or higher. Blood pressure reaching these heights can develop into malignant hypertension: a medical emergency.
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, affects about 75 million Americans today—roughly one in three adults. Blood pressure is exerted against the walls of your arteries, which carry blood from your heart to the other parts of the body. Blood pressure is a dynamic measurement, having high and low fluctuations throughout the day. Generally, there is a small range where blood pressure is considered optimal. Continue reading…
Masked hypertension (MH) can be considered the opposite of white coat hypertension, which is when during a typical doctor’s office visit your blood pressure reads as being high despite being normal at home. The white coat effect is thought to be caused by increased anxiety, which leads to higher blood pressure readings. You can, therefore, say that a masked hypertension definition comprises having normal blood pressure in the doctor’s office, but high blood pressure at home.
This is a problem as having chronic high blood pressure can lead to serious health conditions over time, such as a stroke or heart attack. If your doctor can’t get accurate readings in the office, they may not recognize the problem and prescribe proper treatment. Continue reading…
Research from the University of California, Irvine has shown that regular electroacupuncture treatments may help to lower high blood pressure, or hypertension. This acupuncture treatment works by increasing the number of opioids known as enkephalins released in the area of the brainstem that controls and regulates blood pressure.
The tests were carried out on rats and showed that lower blood pressure lasted for a minimum of three days after the treatment, meaning it may have long-term benefits. The UCI research team previously explored the benefits of regular acupuncture in certain wrist locations, and found that patients experienced drops in blood pressure with this treatment. Continue reading…
The term labile hypertension refers to fluctuations in your blood pressure. When discussing blood pressure, it is either referred to as being high, low, or normal. Labile hypertension, on the other hand, refers to sudden and ongoing changes in blood pressure that fluctuate far more than usual. It can go from being in the normal range in the morning to being very high in the evening.
Labile hypertension is a decisive diagnosis, with some medical communities believing it has less clinical significance than that of more traditional “fixed” forms of high blood pressure. It is this “fixed” form that most medical professionals find most concerning, as it has been documented to lead to significant adverse effects on health in the long term.
Most medical professionals feel that labile hypertension is generally a symptom of another condition. Continue reading…
The risk of heart disease in seniors is reduced with intensive hypertension treatment without increasing the risk of falls or other complications. Study author Dr. Jeff Williamson said, “These findings have substantial implications for the future of high blood pressure therapy in older adults because of its high prevalence in this age group, and because of the devastating consequences high blood pressure complications can have on the independent function of older people.” These new results come from the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT).
The study included over 2,600 seniors over the age of 75 who were randomly assigned to either intensive systolic blood pressure target of 120 mm Hg or the standard target of 140 mm Hg. Those in the intensive group required one additional medication in order to reach their goal. Continue reading…
Related: Resistant hypertension: Causes and strategy to manage and treat resistant high blood pressure