Causes Of Sudden High Blood Pressure

Hypertension is a widespread and dangerous pathology. In Russia alone, 1.7 million people die annually from its consequences. The disease may not show itself for many years and then suddenly strike a crushing blow. So this article will give you a complete guide about the causes of sudden high blood pressure. The danger of hypertension is that it can lead to heart attack and stroke, long-term disability, disability, and even death overtime.

So you are at increased risk of hypertension if:

• You have diabetes.
• You have cardiovascular disease.
• So you smoke and abuse alcohol.
• You do not follow the work schedule. You have a little rest because you spend a lot of time in front of the computer.
• However, you are physically and mentally overwhelmed.

Treatment for essential hypertension includes lifestyle changes and drug therapy. Image changes are important because they can prevent or delay the development of hypertension and reduce cardiovascular risk, and delay or eliminate the need for drug therapy in some patients.

Patients with arterial hypertension are advised to:

• limiting salt intake to 5 g per day.
• Limiting alcohol consumption to 14 units per week for men, up to 7 units per week for women (1 unit – 125 ml of wine or 250 ml of beer).
• Increased consumption of vegetables, fresh fruits, fish, nuts, unsaturated fatty acids, including olive oil. Eat more dairy products with low-fat content, reduce consumption of red meat.
• Weight control avoids obesity.
• Regular aerobic exercise (at least 30 minutes of moderate dynamic physical activity for 5-7 days a week).
• To give up smoking.

What is a hypertensive crisis?: Causes Of Sudden High Blood Pressure

A hypertensive crisis is understood as an acute increase in causes of sudden high blood pressure in patients with hypertension, which requires an immediate, controlled decrease to prevent damage to target organs, which can manifest itself as acute heart failure, pulmonary edema, stroke, edema of the optic nipple.

Hypertensive crises are divided into two groups. Complicated (life-threatening) hypertensive crises require urgent treatment in the intensive care unit due to obvious beginning or progressive damage to target organs. Another group includes uncomplicated (non-life-threatening) hypertensive crises. There are no signs of acute injury to target organs, and effective emergency medical care can be provided on an outpatient basis.

As a rule, hypertensive crises occur in people suffering from hypertension (i.e., increased blood pressure). The disease can be provoked by:

• Emotional stress.
• Physical overload.
• Meteorological influences.
• Lifestyle – increased alcohol consumption, water, salt, chocolate, cheese, caffeine-containing products, and sun exposure.
• Intercurrent diseases (secondary aldosteronism with sodium and water retention, increased renin release associated with a transient deterioration of renal blood flow, acute cerebral or cardiac ischemia).
• Sudden withdrawal of antihypertensive drugs, an overdose of sympathomimetics, corticosteroids, caffeine, etc.

Causes of sudden high blood pressure

• Sudden onset of a crisis: from several minutes to several hours.
• Individually high causes of sudden high blood pressure.
• The appearance of signs of deterioration in regional blood circulation.
• Intense headache.
• Dizziness.
• Nausea.
• The feeling of fear.
• Chills.
• Sweating.
• Feeling hot.
• Frequent, profuse urination with the release of light urine.

Hypertension prevention rules: Causes Of Sudden High Blood Pressure

• Measure your blood pressure periodically.
• If you have causes of sudden high blood pressure, you should be examined at the clinic at your place of residence at least 1 time in 3 months.
• Give yourself a time of relaxation, as quiet as possible.
• Limit yourself to animal fats and excessive consumption of tonic drinks.
• Sleep at least 8 hours a day.
• Do not overuse a lot of liquid.
• Limit salt intake: eat no more than 5 grams per day.
• Stop smoking.
• Limit alcohol consumption.
• Don’t neglect physical activity.

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Types of arterial hypertension

In addition to the above classification by the causes of sudden high blood pressure, doctors divide arterial hypertension into different origin types based on differential parameters.

Primary arterial hypertension: Causes Of Sudden High Blood Pressure

The causes of this type of disease have not yet been clarified. The only reliable information is that heredity plays a leading role in the development of primary hypertension. Geneticists claim that the human genetic code contains more than 20 combinations that contribute to hypertension development.

In turn, primary arterial hypertension is subdivided into several forms:

• This form is observed in about 15 per cent of early hypertension cases and often in young people. It occurs due to the release of adrenaline and norepinephrine into the bloodstream.

Typical symptoms: change in complexion (a person may turn pale or redden), a feeling of a pulse in the head, chills, and anxiety. Resting heart rate – from 90 to 95 beats per minute. So if the pressure does not return to normal, a hypertensive crisis may follow. Hypocretin. Occurs in people of advanced age. A high level of aldosterone, a hormone of the adrenal cortex that traps sodium and fluid in the body, in combination with renin’s activity (a component that regulates blood pressure) in the blood plasma, creates favourable conditions for the development of this type of hypertension. However, the external manifestation of the disease is a characteristic “renal appearance.” Patients should refrain from eating salty foods and drinking plenty of fluids.

Hyperrenic. People with rapidly progressing hypertension suffer from this form. The frequency of cases is 15-20 per cent, and often these are young men. Differs in a severe course, typical sharp jumps in blood pressure. SBP can reach 230, DBP – 130 mm Hg. Art. With an increase in blood pressure, the patient feels dizziness, intense headache, nausea, and vomiting. Untreated disease can cause renal artery atherosclerosis.

Secondary arterial hypertension

This type is called symptomatic hypertension since it develops with external lesions of systems and organs responsible for regulating blood pressure. In fact, this form of hypertension is a complication of another disease, making it more difficult to treat.

Secondary hypertension can also be divided into various forms, depending on which disease caused hypertension:

• Renal (renovascular). Narrowing of the renal artery impairs blood circulation in the kidneys. In response to this, they synthesize substances that increase blood pressure.

The artery’s narrowing is atherosclerosis of the abdominal aorta, atherosclerotic plaques of the renal artery and inflammation of its walls, blockage by a thrombus, trauma, and compression by a hematoma or tumour. Renal hypertension can also develop against the background of glomerulonephritis, amyloidosis, or renal pyelonephritis. With all the disease’s complexity, a person can feel quite normal and not lose working capacity even with very high blood pressure. Patients note that a characteristic lower back pain precedes the pressure jump. This form is difficult to treat; to cope with the disease, it is necessary to cure the primary infection.

Endocrine. It is relatively rare but causes a very severe form of hypertension. Patients complain of visual impairment, headache, and heart palpitations. Another cause of the endocrine form of hypertension is Conn’s syndrome. The disease provokes an increase in blood pressure, accompanied by headache, numbness in various parts of the body, weakness.

Essential arterial hypertension: Causes Of Sudden High Blood Pressure

This type can be combined with primary hypertension since its only clinical sign is long-term and persistent high blood pressure in the arteries. Diagnosed by the exclusion of all forms of secondary hypertension. Hypertension is based on dysfunctions of various systems of the human body that affect vascular tone regulation. This effect is an arterial spasm, a change in vascular tone, and increased blood pressure.

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Lack of treatment leads to sclerosis of arterioles, making the high blood pressure more persistent. As a result, organs and tissues do not receive enough nutrition, which leads to the disruption of their functions and morphological changes. In different periods of the course of hypertension, these changes appear, but first of all, they always relate to the heart and blood vessels.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension

This type of hypertension is scarce. The incidence is 15-25 people per million. The cause of the disease is high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries that connect the heart and lungs. Through the pulmonary arteries, blood, containing a low proportion of oxygen, flows from the heart’s right ventricle (more down the right side) into the lungs’ small vessels and arteries.

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In PAH, blood cannot circulate freely through the vessels due to their narrowing, increases in thickness and mass, edema of the vascular walls caused by inflammation, and clots’ formation. This disorder leads to damage to the heart, lungs, and other organs.

In turn, LAS is also subdivided into types:

• Hereditary type. Genetic problems cause the disease.
• The origin of this type of PAH has not yet been established.

Associate. The disease develops against the background of other conditions such as HIV, liver disease. It may occur due to various pills’ abuse to normalize body weight (amphetamines, cocaine). Persistently elevated blood pressure significantly increases the load on the heart. The affected vessels interfere with average blood circulation, which, over time, can cause the right ventricle to stop.

Labile arterial hypertension

This type of hypertension is referred to as the initial stage of hypertension. Actually, this is not a disease yet, but rather a borderline state since minor and unstable pressure surges characterize it. It stabilizes on its own and does not require the use of drugs that lower blood pressure.

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In principle, people with labile hypertension are considered relatively healthy (provided that the pressure returns to normal without intervention), but they need to closely monitor their condition since blood pressure is still not stable. Also, this type can be a harbinger of a secondary form of hypertension.

Diagnosis of arterial hypertension

The diagnosis of hypertension is based on three main methods:

• The first is blood pressure measurement.

The second is a physical examination. These include palpation, auscultation (listening to sounds that accompany the work of various organs), percussion (tapping different parts of the body, followed by sound analysis), routine examination.

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The third is an electrocardiogram.

Now let’s proceed to the description of all diagnostic measures for suspected arterial hypertension:

• Blood pressure control. The first thing the doctor will do is measure your blood pressure. It makes no sense to describe the method of measuring pressure using a tonometer. So this technique requires special training, and the amateurish approach will give distorted results. But we recall that the permissible limits of blood pressure for an adult fluctuate between 120-140 – the upper pressure, 80-90 – the lower.
• In people with an “unstable” nervous system, blood pressure indicators increase with the slightest emotional outbursts. When you visit a doctor, you may experience a “white coat” syndrome. That is, during the control measurement of blood pressure, a rise in pressure occurs. Such surges are stress, this is not a disease, but such a reaction can disrupt the heart and kidneys. So in this regard, the doctor will measure the pressure several times and in different conditions.

Medical history. Any doctor’s visit usually begins with a doctor’s interview with a patient. A specialist’s task is to find out from a person the diseases that he suffered before and has at the moment. To analyze risk factors and assess the lifestyle (whether the person smokes, how he eats, whether he has high cholesterol levels, does he have diabetes), whether the first-line relatives had hypertension.

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Physical examination. First of all, the doctor examines the heart for murmurs, changes in intones, and the presence of uncharacteristic sounds using a phonendoscope. And also to exclude vices. Blood chemistry. So the study results allow determining the level of sugar, lipoproteins, and cholesterol, based on which it can be concluded that the patient is prone to atherosclerosis.

Causes of sudden high blood pressure: First aid

Arterial hypertension and conditions associated with it, according to medical statistics, in modern society are becoming the most common cause of death and disability when a person’s blood pressure rises sharply, not only the load on the walls of arterial blood vessels of different calibres increases but also the load on the heart muscle, which worsens the working conditions of the heart.

That is why doctors insist that a patient suffering from essential hypertension (idiopathic hypertension) or symptomatic hypertension occurs against the background of diseases of the body or tends to increase blood pressure against neurocirculatory dystonia must systematically receive prescribed medications to control blood pressure.

With a sharp increase in blood pressure, therapy should be directed to:

• The decrease in blood pressure – should be gradual and not exceed 25-30 mm Hg per hour.
• Elimination of psychomotor agitation and manifestations of this condition from the nervous system.
• Restoration of normal heart function, prevention of arrhythmias.
• Relief of manifestations of hypertension affecting other organs and systems of the human body.

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So it is imperative to conduct a comprehensive examination of the human body, which should identify the actual cause of the increase in blood pressure – this is important for subsequent therapy appointments. In the case of a hypertensive crisis, it is important to identify the first symptoms of this complication, measure blood pressure (for accurate diagnosis) and immediately call an ambulance, whose specialists will carry out treatment and decide on the need for hospitalization.

Causes of sudden high blood pressure: Symptoms

• headache – it can be diffuse or localized.
• Nausea and vomiting do not bring relief (characteristic of a sharp and sudden increase in blood pressure).
• The appearance of dizziness, unsteadiness of gait, inability to focus vision usually; • noise in ears; • the appearance of numbness in half of the face, weakness of the limbs.
• Pain in the region of the heart.
• Increased urination or urinary retention.

If you suspect the presence of the above symptoms, you need to measure blood pressure – it should be remembered that the measurement conditions affect the readings of automatic and semi-automatic blood pressure monitors. If high blood pressure is detected, it is necessary to call an ambulance for the patient immediately, and before her arrival, try to calm the patient down. The patient should be seated or laid with a high headboard. If possible, try to lower the lower end of the bed. Provide access to fresh and cool air (if possible).

You can use symptomatic therapy to lower blood pressure – hot foot baths for the hands and feet, mustard plasters on the head’s back, and the calf muscles. If the patient was previously prescribed antihypertensive drugs, then he can take the remedy recommended by the doctor under the tongue – preference should be given to those drugs that are taken 2-3 times a day (they start to act faster, but their effect is shorter). So, If pain occurs in the heart region, it is advisable to take nitroglycerin under the tongue. In the event of psychomotor agitation, it is possible to recommend taking Corvalol, Valocordin, motherwort tincture.