Symptoms of High Blood Pressure

Generally, there are no symptoms of high blood pressure and even if symptoms does occur for it usually is mild and nonspecific, vague or suggesting many different disorders.

High blood pressure usually isn’t felt which made it more dangerous the reason for it to be labeled as the "silent killer". The disease can go unnoticed until it progress to develop to any one or more of the several potentially fatal complications of hypertension such as heart attacks or strokes.

The only way for one to find out if he or she has high blood pressure is to get one’s blood pressure checked on a regular basis which is especially important if you have a close relative who has high blood pressure as high blood pressure appears to be hereditary.

Some people however, may experience symptoms such as headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, and blurred vision. The presence of these symptoms can be a good thing in that they prompt a person to seek medical consultation and undergo treatment at once.

Some symptoms of high blood pressure though may arise from the organ damage caused by chronic (ongoing, long-term) high blood pressure. Some of organ damage that are commonly seen in chronic high blood pressure: heart attack, heart failure, stroke or "mini stroke" (transient ischemic attack, TIA), Kidney failure, eye damage with loss of vision, peripheral arterial disease, outpouchings of the aorta, called aneurysms

There are some people with high blood pressure that do not seek medical care until their high blood pressure is already very severe in which is known as malignant hypertension. In malignant hypertension, the diastolic blood pressure (the lower number) is greater than 140 mm Hg; it may also be associated with headache, light-headedness, or nausea. This degree of high blood pressure already requires emergency hospitalization and urgent treatment to lower the blood pressure and to prevent brain hemorrhage or stroke.

It is of high important to realize that high blood pressure can be unrecognized for years, causing no symptoms but causing progressive damage to the heart, other organs, and blood vessels.