About 1 in 3 Americans suffer from hypertension, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Physicians and health professionals often label hypertension as the silent killer. Signs of hypertension, or high blood pressure, often only manifest in the latter, more serious stages of the disease. A patient may not know that he has hypertension until he has already experienced an adverse event such as a stroke or heart attack. To combat the silent killer, physicians advise that their patients have regular medical exams and monitor blood pressure at home.
Headaches
Headaches are a rare sign of hypertension, normally only occurring in stage 2 hypertension, when the systolic blood pressure rate is over 160 and the diastolic rate is over 100. The systolic number is the pressure the heart exerts to pump blood, and the diastolic number is the pressure against the body's arterial walls. Hypertension headaches typically occur in the morning, with pressure focused behind the eyes.
Shortness of Breath
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hypertension is responsible for more than 40 million physician or emergency room visits each year. Sometimes hypertensive patients report shortness of breath. This can be the first sign of pulmonary hypertension, in which arteries leading to the lungs narrow, restricting blood flow and damaging the heart. Like headaches, shortness of breath is a symptom that usually occurs only in cases of very high blood pressure.
Dizziness
Dizziness can be a sign of hypertension, but more often it is caused by an underlying condition or side effects of medication. In the May 2008 issue of "Hypertension Research," Dr. Jin-Shang Wu wrote that age, high systolic pressure and the use of hypnotic medication were contributing factors for dizziness in hypertensive patients. Hypnotics are a class of drugs normally used to treat patients with sleep disorders.
Nosebleeds
Hypertensive patients do experience nosebleeds, but physicians disagree on whether nosebleeds are a symptom of hypertension. An associated illness or disease may be the source of nosebleeds in hypertensive patients. While other hypertension symptoms usually only manifest in the latter stages of hypertension, nosebleeds do not appear to be associated with very high blood pressure. Pre-hypertensive patients report the same number of nosebleeds as stage 2 hypertension patients.
References
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: What Is High Blood Pressure?
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Hypertension
- "Hypertension Research"; Orthostatic Hypotension/Hypertension and Dizziness; Jin-Shang Wu, M.D.; May 2008
- "International Journal of Cardiology"; Association Between Epistaxis and Hypertension; Jose Knopfholz, B.M.; May 2009
