10 Risks Of Ignoring High Blood Pressure

With high blood pressure becoming so common, it's surprising that so few people actually even know what the dangers of ignoring it are

. We all know it's something to be aware of, but why? Here's a breakdown of the key risk factors:

#1) Artery Damage. Arteries can harden and thicken under excessive pressure.

#2) Aneurisms. An aneurism is when an artery in the brain balloons outwards. Aneurisms aren't always a problem by themselves. What they can lead to is very serious - a stroke.

#3) Stroke. A stroke happens when a clot impedes blood flow to the brain or when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures. Reducing your blood pressure by as little as 5-6mmHg can lower your stroke risk factor by up to 40%. Strokes are very serious business - they're the third most common cause of death in Western societies.

#4) Heart attack. With your heart working overtime fighting high blood pressure, it gets bigger. This increases your chances of having a heart attack. Heart attack is the most common cause of death in the West.

#5) Congestive heart failure. This happens when your heart becomes too weak or stiff to work efficiently. By lowering your blood pressure by as little as 5-6mmHg you can decrease your risk of heart failure by as much as 15-20%.

#6) Blindness. The extra pressure on the tiny blood vessels in our eyes can cause damage to the retina and blindness.

#7) Kidney failure. The kidneys can lose their ability to clean our blood, causing potentially lethal levels of fluids and toxins. Frequently there are no symptoms until kidney efficiency is down by over 75%. Kidney failure can require regular dialysis (intravenous blood filtering by a machine) or even a transplant operation - assuming a matching donor can be found.

#8) Metabolic syndrome. In ways that are not fully understood, high blood pressure can be associated with high insulin levels, fat accumulation around the waist and good/bad cholesterol imbalances.

#9) Mental Problems. High blood pressure has been associated with: confusion, headache, convulsions, and dementia. It can even affect even the things we take for granted, such as the ability to think, remember and learn.

#10) Impotence (Erectile Dysfunction, ED). In a cruel irony, both high blood pressure and the drugs used to treat it can lead to erectile dysfunction.

So there you have it - the top 10 risks of ignoring high blood pressure. High blood pressure itself isn't the problem - it's all of the preventable issues that come along with it that are the real concern. The great news is that there are many drug-free ways to fight high blood pressure, including diet, exercise and relaxation techniques such as Guided Breathing.

by: Andy Krals

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