High Blood Pressure Treatment

What is high blood pressure?

High blood pressure occurs when the arterial blood flow is too intense. There are 2 types of high blood pressure, primary high blood pressure and secondary high blood pressure. Primary high blood pressure is the most common type of high blood pressure, and it’s a condition arising from several different factors in most cases. With secondary high blood pressure, another medical condition or issue causes the high blood pressure. Secondary high blood pressure is often a temporary condition that will resolve once the problem causing it has been treated or otherwise resolves. For example, a person who's under severe stress may temporarily have a blood pressure spike, but once they've calmed down their blood pressure usually returns to its normal state.

What are the signs of high blood pressure?

High blood pressure can be especially dangerous because it rarely causes obvious symptoms, especially in the early stages. Because of this, many people don't get treated for high blood pressure until their condition has become severe enough to cause eye issues, kidney problems, or even heart problems. Since the early signs of high blood pressure aren't obvious, it's important that patients have regular physical exams, at least once a year. During a physical, Dr. Rafael A. Guillén can thoroughly check the patient's overall health including their blood pressure.

How is high blood pressure treated?

If high blood pressure isn't treated, it could potentially be fatal. High blood pressure raises the risk of heart attack, heart failure, and stroke. It's important that the patient works closely with Dr. Guillén to manage high blood pressure to avoid health problems now and in the future. Patients may need to make some changes in the way they live. This can include dietary changes, the addition of regular exercise, and cessation of habits like smoking and drinking. A low sodium diet that focuses on health fresh foods with low amounts of saturated fats is often very helpful. When lifestyle changes aren't enough to lower the blood pressure to healthy levels, the patient may need to take medication as well. If a patient is determined to lower blood pressure to healthy levels, it's entirely achievable.