Fast food can be dangerous when not consumed in moderation. This is because fast food is often loaded with sodium and cholesterol, two compounds that can result in high blood pressure. When a person gets high blood pressure from eating too much fast food, it can result in a number of serious and potentially life-threatening medical problems.
Atherosclerosis
One of the major dangers that high blood pressure poses is that it can lead to atherosclerosis, the New York Times says. Atherosclerosis is a condition in which the arteries become thickened due to the accumulation of cholesterol in the arterial walls in the form of atherosclerotic plaques. Fast food can lead to atherosclerosis, both due to its high cholesterol content and because it increases blood pressure due to the large amounts of sodium found in most fast-food products. High blood pressure damages the arterial walls, which allows cholesterol to get inside the tissue that lines the arteries. Atherosclerosis causes arteries to become narrow and stiff. This further increases blood pressure and can decrease blood flow. Over time, atherosclerosis can cause the small arteries that provide blood to the brain and heart to become clogged, leading to a heart attack or stroke.
Heart Failure
When consumption of fast food causes blood pressure to rise, it increases the amount of force that the heart needs to generate in order to pump blood. This can cause the heart muscle to become enlarged and thicker, the Mayo Clinic explains, as the muscle grows in order to provide more contractile force. This thickening also can cause the heart muscle to stiffen, which can impair the heart's ability to pump effectively. If left untreated, hypertension can cause the heart to not be able to function effectively and lead to heart failure.
Kidney Failure
When patients develop high blood pressure as a result of eating too much fast food, the kidneys are also affected in a number of different ways. The atherosclerosis that fast food causes can block off the arteries that provide blood to the kidneys. Hypertension can also damage the glomeruli, which are small clusters of cells within the kidneys that are responsible for filtering out waste products from the blood. Both of these problems can result in kidney failure, which is the inability of the kidneys to regulate the composition of the blood. Consequently, regular consumption of fast food can cause patients to need dialysis, which is a procedure that artificially replaces the function of the kidneys. Once the kidneys fail, patients need to receive dialysis for the rest of their lives unless they receive a kidney transplant.
