Take Control of Your High Blood Pressure in Las Vegas and Henderson, NV

High blood pressure (hypertension) means the pressure is your blood vessels is too high. About 70 to 80 million American have hypertension — that’s around one in three people. However, only half have their high blood pressure under control. Uncontrolled high blood pressure puts millions of Americans at risk for aneurysm, stroke, organ damage, heart attack, and other heart conditions. 

Find a cardiologist associated with Dignity Health - St. Rose Dominican in Las Vegas or Henderson, NV or call (702) 616-4900 to learn if you have or are at risk for high blood pressure and take the next step toward a heart-healthy lifestyle.

 

High Blood Pressure Symptoms

Doctors sometimes call hypertension a “silent” disease. Even when blood pressure readings are dangerously high, there are usually no noticeable symptoms. Undiagnosed high blood pressure can go unnoticed for years, causing irreversible damage to your heart. That’s why blood pressure checks are so important — and why Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican hospitals offers them to all our patients. The American Heart Association recommends regular blood pressure screening every two years starting at age 20. 

Your blood pressure reading provides two measurements: 

  • Systolic blood pressure is the pressure when your heart is pushing blood through your body and squeezing (contracting). It should be less than 120. It’s the top number of a blood pressure reading.
  • Diastolic blood pressure is the pressure when your heart is filling with blood and relaxing. It should be less than 80. It’s the bottom number of a blood pressure reading.

 

What Causes High Blood Pressure?

There are two types of hypertension, each with different causes:

  • Essential or primary hypertension is the most common type of high blood pressure. It develops over time. Doctors aren’t sure of the cause.
  • Secondary hypertension is caused by certain medications or another underlying medical condition such as kidney problems or thyroid disease. Treating the underlying cause will usually lower blood pressure to a normal range.

Risk factors for developing primary hypertension include:

  • Age — around 65 percent of adults older than 60 have high blood pressure
  • Ethnicity — African Americans are more likely to develop primary hypertension
  • Family history
  • Being overweight
  • Gender — women are more likely to develop high blood pressure later in life, while men are more likely to develop it in middle age
  • Lifestyle factors, including poor diet, smoking, drinking alcohol, stress, and not exercising

 

Tips to Lower Blood Pressure from Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican Hospitals

For primary hypertension, the main treatment includes lifestyle changes (not smoking, regular exercise, and a low-salt diet) and medications such as:

  • Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs)
  • Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
  • Vasodilators
  • Calcium channel blockers
  • Alpha blockers
  • Diuretics
  • Beta blockers 

Secondary hypertension is usually treated by addressing the underlying cause to bring blood pressure back to normal.

The cardiologists at Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican hospitals can help you reduce high blood pressure in Las Vegas and Henderson, NV.