In brief

• Untreated high blood pressure (hypertension) for a long time proceeds without clear symptoms.
• It leads to heart attack, stroke and heart failure.
• Reducing salt, exercise, quitting smoking and drinking less alcohol are the basic prevention measures.

Why hypertension can be insidious

Elevated blood pressure may have many causes: primary (essential) hypertension, kidney diseases, hormonal disorders, the effects of some medications, poisoning, or late pregnancy toxemia (Не тільки інфаркт: що буде, якщо не лікувати високий тиск – TSN) (Не тільки інфаркт: що буде, якщо не лікувати високий тиск – my.ua). The most treacherous thing is that most people do not feel it until complications occur. Early signs, such as headache, are often dismissed.

The most serious complications

Untreated hypertension damages vital organs and is the leading cause of premature death in the world. The most common complications include:

• myocardial infarction (heart attack), when the coronary arteries fail to supply the heart with oxygen;
• stroke: a blood vessel in the brain bursts under the influence of high pressure, a hematoma forms, and blood supply to brain tissue is disrupted;
• heart failure: the circulatory system becomes exhausted and the body stops compensating for the overload, which over time begins to affect all organs.

What helps in prevention

Specialists list several basic principles: quitting smoking, regular physical exercise, reducing salt in the diet and drinking less alcohol. It was also previously reported that an adequate amount of fruit and vegetables in the daily diet may support blood pressure control.