Sign and Symptoms of Hypertension

Sign & Symptoms of High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)

Hypertension or High blood pressure usually has no obvious symptoms and many people have it without knowing. Untreated hypertension can lead to serious diseases, including stroke and heart disease. Only way to know if anyone has hypertension is to have blood pressure measured. Adults should get their blood pressure checked at least once every five years.

High blood pressure (Hypertension) can be associated with numerous non specific symptoms. Most commonly, raised blood pressure has no symptom. Therefore, high blood pressure is considered a silent killer, patient feels totally normal but many organs of the body are slowly damaged by the high blood pressures. This makes screening for hypertension by regular measurement of blood pressure very important.

In a hypertension patient’s, there can be general high blood pressure symptoms as like as headache, easy fatigability, palpitation etc. When hypertension is secondary to some other disease, person may have symptoms of the primary conditions. Prolonged hypertension damages many organs of the body, there may be symptoms due to these complications of long standing hypertension. This hypertension can also result in some serious life threatening conditions and symptoms in this case vary depending on the specific hypertensive emergency.

General High Blood Pressure Symptoms

Some patients with hypertension may present with symptoms. Ex- headache, palpitation, dizziness, blurred vision, chest pain, nosebleeds, breathlessness etc. Headache generally occurs only when the blood pressure is very high. This kind of headache typically occurs in the morning and is commonly localized to the back of the head. Dizziness is also more frequent in the morning. Though most of the cases of essential hypertension, the recognizable symptoms would be totally absent.

Symptoms in Primary Hypertension

 Mild to moderate primary (essential) hypertension is largely asymptomatic for many year. The most frequent symptom is headache.  Suboccipital pulsating headache, that occurs early in the morning and subsiding during the day, is said to be characteristic, but any type of headache may occur.

Symptoms in Secondary Hypertension

Most of the cases of hypertension are essential hypertension in which no cause of raised blood pressure could be discovered. Many disease conditions can result in elevation of blood pressure, this kind of cases are referred to as secondary hypertension. Person with secondary hypertension may have symptoms of the primary disease condition (which is also causing an elevated blood pressure). The list of the causes of secondary hypertension is very large.

Symptoms for Complications of Hypertension

Raised blood pressure over very long duration (many years or decades) damages the various organs of the body. Organs most commonly affected are eyes, heart, kidney, brain and the peripheral artery.

Symptoms of Hypertensive Emergencies

Long standing hypertension or severe hypertension with extremely hypertension can result in various life threatening hypertensive emergencies that require immediate medical care. To seek hypertensive emergency treatment immediately, reorganization of the symptoms of these conditions is very important. The most common hypertensive emergencies encountered are malignant hypertension, stroke, hypertensive encephalopathy, myocardial infarction (heart attack), aortic dissection and acute left ventricular failure (heart failure). In such cases hypertensive emergency treatment is necessary.

A variety of symptoms may be indirectly related to hypertension but are not always caused by hypertension. Some are given below:

• Blood spots in the eyes
  Blood spots in the eyes, or subconjunctival hemorrhage, is more common in people with diabetes or high blood pressure, though neither condition causes the blood spot. An ophthalmologist may be able to detect damage to the optic nerve caused by untreated hypertension.
• Facial flushing
  Facial flushing occurs when blood vessel in the face dilate. Red, burning face can occur unpredictably or in response to certain triggers such as cold weather, exposure to sun, hot drink, spicy foods, and also skin-care product. Facial flushing can also occur with emotional stress, alcohol consumption and exercise, exposure to heat or hot water, all of which can raise blood pressure temporarily. As facial flushing may occur while blood pressure is higher than usual, blood pressure is not the cause of facial flushing.
• Dizziness
  Dizziness can be a side effect of some hypertension medication. Nevertheless, dizziness should not be ignored, if it is a sudden onset. Loss of balance, sudden dizziness or coordination and trouble walking are all warning signs of a stroke.

If blood pressure is extremely high, then there certain symptoms can be appeared, including:

• Severe headache
• Fatigue or confusion
• Chest pain
• Vision problems
• Difficulty breathing
• Blood in the urine
• Irregular heartbeat
• Pounding in your chest, neck or ears

In some rare cases, where a person has very high blood pressure, he or she can experience symptoms including:

• a persistent headache
• shortness of breath
• blurred or double vision
• nosebleeds

Table : Symptoms of High Blood Pressure

General Symptoms	Headache, Dizziness, Easy Fatigability, Palpitation, Blurred Vision, Erectile Dysfunction etc.
Symptoms in secondary hypertension	Pheochromocytoma - Panic attacks, occasional headaches, palpitations, abdominal pain, nervousness, irritability, sweating, hand tremors, etc. Chronic pyelonephritis - Back Pain, recurrent urinary tract infection, fever, flank pain, malaise, etc. Polycystic Kidney Disease- Blood in urine, excessive urination at night time, Abdominal and flank pain etc. Hyperaldosteronism - Headache, fatigue, , numbness, muscle weakness, intermittent paralysis Cushing’s Syndrome - Rapid weight gain, “moon” face, central obesity, excessive sweating, sleep disturbances, stretch marks on skin, impotence in men, baldness, etc. Hyperparathyroidism - Abdominal pain, joint pain, back pain, muscle pain, weakness, bone pain, fatigue, personality changes, fractures, nausea and vomiting, blurred vision, increased thirst and urination, depression, etc. Hypothyroidism - Fatigue, joint and muscle pain, increased susceptibility to cold, constipation, depression, weight gain, weakness, etc. Hyperthyroidism - Nervousness, difficulty in concentrating, restlessness, frequent bowel movements, increased appetite, heat intolerance, weight loss, irregular menstrual cycle in women, fatigue, hand tremors etc. Obstructive Sleep Apnea - Headaches, snoring during sleep, forgetfulness, sleepy during the day, fall asleep while working or any other task during daytime.
Symptoms due to Complications	Retina (Eye) – Blindness, Visual Defect. Heart - Chest pain due to angina, Symptoms due to heart failure-shortness of breath, swelling of feet, weakness, cough, fatigue, increased urination at night, shortness of breath few hours after going to sleep. Brain - Variable neurological symptoms depending on the part of brain affected by minor strokes and Transient loss of consciousness or temporary neurological symptoms due to TIA. Kidney - Swelling in the body due to protein loss in urine, Symptoms due to renal failure (nausea, vomiting, weight loss, swelling in various body regions (feet/legs/face/abdomen/generalized swelling), shortness of breath, weakness, loss of appetite, etc. Peripheral Arteries - Pain on walking for a short distance relieved by rest due to PAD.
Symptoms due to Hypertensive Emergencies	Malignant Hypertension - Blurred Vision, Dizziness, Headache, shortness of breath, Altered Mental State (confusion, sleepiness), seizures, chest pain, vomiting, swelling in feet. Hypertensive Encephalopathy - Speech disturbances, seizures, visual disturbances, loss of consciousness, disorientation, paresthesias (altered sensations). Myocardial Infarction - Chest pain, sweating, shortness of breath, dizziness, cough, fainting, nausea and vomiting. Stroke - Variable neurological symptoms depending on which part of the brain is affected. changes in hearing/vision/taste, Symptoms may be altered mental state, numbness, weakness of arm/leg/face (usually unilateral), dizziness, difficulty performing tasks (writing, reading, walking swallowing, urination etc.), altered sensations (paresthesias) etc. Acute Left Ventricular Failure - Sudden onset shortness of breath at rest that increases in severity with time. Aortic Dissection - Severe Chest pain (usually sudden sharp, stabbing or tearing pain radiating to the back).