5 most common high blood pressure questions answered - Part 2

Doctors talk about ways to calm hypertension, blood vessel damage and controlling your blood pressure.

Transcript

00:00

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

00:16

Hypertension itself doesn't cause symptoms but consequences. So hypertension is basically high blood pressure.

00:23

So with each beat of your heart, the blood is pumped out of the heart into the blood vessels. And so that's going to cause an increased pressure in the blood

00:30

vessel when that blood hits the vessels.

00:37

There are no symptoms. There are consequences. And the consequences are heart attacks, stroke, renal failure.

00:46

And then we think also cognitive impairment when you get elderly. But those things happen 20 years after the hypertension started.

00:55

So by the time you have symptoms, the blood vessels are in bad shape already.

01:02

And it's pretty hard to go backwards. It's much easier to prevent this problem in the blood vessels than it is to repair it.

01:09

We don't have a good way of repairing this kind of damage to the blood vessels.

01:17

You know, every so often, I have a diabetes patient come into my practice with high blood pressure.

01:26

You know, high blood pressure is one of those tricky things where you might not even know you have it. And if you have diabetes, it's extra, extra

01:33

important to know your blood pressure numbers. Why? Well, to start, those with diabetes

01:39

are at an increased risk for heart disease, such as heart attacks or strokes. And high blood pressure is also a risk factor for heart disease.

01:47

So those with diabetes and high blood pressure are especially vulnerable. That's why it's important to get your blood pressure checked

01:54

with your health care provider. This ensures that the levels will go into your medical records. And what's great is that your health care provider

02:00

can tell you if additional at-home blood pressure tests would be helpful. But in addition to knowing your numbers, there are changes you can make to your diet,

02:09

your exercise habits, and overall lifestyle choices that might help keep those numbers in check.

02:17

[UPBEAT MUSIC]

02:29

Talk to your health care provider about safe changes you can make and possibly medications you can take to lower your blood pressure.