Hypertension is a condition in which a person’s blood pressure becomes elevated due to either the heart pumping with higher than normal force or the constriction of blood vessels. It can be hard to pinpoint the causes of hypertension. People with family histories of high blood pressure are more likely to experience it; smoking and obesity can also be risk factors. Hypertension may be indicative of medical conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. Often, hypertension has no recognizable symptoms until it reaches a critical level. However, some people in the early stages may notice symptoms that include confusion, dizziness and dull headaches, although these symptoms generally don't occur until later stages.
Confusion
The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide defines confusion as “the diminished ability to remember or think clearly.” A person suffering from confusion caused by hypertension may find it hard to complete a thought or to hold a conversation. You may begin to perform a task and midway through completely forget what you are doing or forget why you are doing it. Confusion is a symptom that is hard to self-diagnose because experiencing the condition effectively disables your ability to objectively evaluate your own actions.
Dizziness
The Mayo Clinic states that dizziness generally refers to three particular feelings: faintness, vertigo and loss of balance. Abnormally high or low blood pressures can lead to the sensation of feeling as though you or your environment is spinning. This sensation is known as vertigo. Faintness is having the feeling that you are about to pass out and loss of balance simply describes feeling as though you are going to fall.
Dull Headache
Most people have experienced some form of headache in the past and because of this, a headache can be an easily overlooked symptom of high blood pressure. A headache caused by hypertension will resemble the same dull, total headache that you may associate with a standard tension headache. It may feel tolerable and not as severe as a migraine; however, a headache caused by high blood pressure is less likely to subside when you take over-the-counter pain medicine. It may also be accompanied with a feeling of nausea or vision impairment and often will persist for several days.
Other Symptoms
People with hypertension may also experience other symptoms like excessive nosebleeds, drowsiness, nausea, vision impairment and difficulty breathing. These symptoms can also be indicative of other serious medical conditions such as diabetes, heart failure, hyperthyroidism or kidney failure. If you experience any of these symptoms, it is very important that you seek medical care immediately for evaluation.
