What is the difference between hypertension and heart disease

Kalvakuri said. The best way to deal with hypertension is to get screened every year by your physician to catch any possible hypertension issue early. Eating healthy, avoiding too much sodium and being physically active are simple things you can do yourself to help keep your blood pressure in a healthy range. Find more detail here on how blood pressure is measured and the stages of hypertension. You can also find out about your risk factors for high blood pressure here. Are you at risk?

On the other hand the mortality rate of CHD is 2. There is no doubt that the magnitude of hypertension does have an impact in the incidence of CHD. First of all, atherosclerosis is exacerbated by arterial hypertension. Deposition of lipids and the formation of the atherosclerotic plaque may be favoured by the increase of transmural pressure in arterial vessels, with an increase in mechanical stress and endothelial permeability.

Furthermore, it is well documented that there is endothelial dysfunction, remodelling of coronary arteries and increased resistance at microvascular level, all contributing to a decrease of coronary reserve. Coronary reserve is impaired in patients with essential arterial hypertension in the absence of CHD, 10 which is explained in part by the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy. Experimental studies have shown that minimal coronary resistance is increased in spontaneous hypertensive rats, along with a decrease in capillary density and coronary reserve.

It has been recently confirmed that coronary blood flow is increased in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy compared with hypertensives without hypertrophy and normotensives.

The lumen area was similar in hypertensives with hypertrophy of the left ventricle and normotensives, and significantly greater than hypertensives without hypertrophy.

Vessel area was significantly greater in hypertensives with hypertrophy than in those without. Vessel area increased significantly with plaque area in the three groups. On the other hand responses to acetilcholine endothelium dependent and to adenosine non-endothelial dependent are significantly decreased in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy. These results suggest that functional abnormalities in humans with hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy are associated with structural changes, namely coronary remodelling.

The increase in lumen area would contribute to maintain a constant flow velocity in large epicardial arteries and as a consequence a normal endothelial function with a normal shear stress. This would result in a reduced release of endothelium-derived relaxing factor which is known to be a potent vasodilator, inhibits proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells, endothelial movement and extracellular matrix production.

Medial thickening by proliferation of smooth muscle cells and perivascular fibrosis were observed. When coronary hypertension is combined with hypertrophy, as is often the case in systemic arterial hypertension, the two remodelling processes described are superimposed. Experimental data show that after relief of pressure overload there is a regression of medial hypertrophy and perivascular collagen, first at larger arterial microvessels and then in small microvessels 17 but perivascular collagen deposition may remain.

Either due to coronary atherosclerosis or to a decreased coronary reserve, clinical manifestations of CHD angina, myocardial infarction are frequent in hypertensive patients. Resting electrocardiogram show alterations of repolarisation suggestive of ischaemia and exercise tests may have a false-positive response. Ischaemia may also contribute to produce subendocardial fibrosis which in turn contribute to diastolic as well as to systolic dysfunction.

It has been suggested that acute coronary syndromes might be favoured by an increased flow velocity and shear stress which could contribute to plaque disruption. It has been shown in hypertensive patients with normal coronary arteries that flow velocity is increased which is only partially reversed by isosorbide.

In hypertensives with left ventricular hypertrophy the risk of reinfarction, overall mortality and mortality due to CHD are significantly increased.

It is important to emphasise that treatment of hypertension reduces significantly the number of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events in patients with CHD. General principles for the treatment of hypertension fully apply to patients with hypertension and CHD.

Vasodilator agents may cause reflex stimulation of baroreceptors and tachycardia and increased contractility resulting in increased myocardial oxygen demand and thus aggravating angina. On that respect, hydralazine or short-acting calcium antagonists should be avoided.

Global evaluation of the patient is mandatory. It is important to evaluate the extension of organic damage, the presence of diabetes and other risk factors, and the presence of aggravating factors such as thyrotoxicosis and anaemia, etc, and obviously the severity and extension of coronary disease.

Non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic treatment must be linked to reduce overall cardiovascular risk. Furthermore stabilisation of atherosclerotic plaque is of extreme importance. Blood pressure is typically recorded as two numbers and a written as a ratio. Systolic: The top number in the ratio, which is also the higher of the two, measures the pressure in the arteries when the heart beats. Diastolic: The bottom number in the ratio, which is also the lower of the two, measures the pressure in the arteries between heartbeats.

Are women at higher risk of having high blood pressure? While there is no cure, HBP can be managed and sometimes prevented by: Adopting an overall healthy dietary pattern Getting the recommended regular physical activity Maintaining a healthy weight These simple changes can go a long way and are key factors in lowering your numbers. Will taking birth control pills increase my chances of getting high blood pressure?

Will high blood pressure effect my chances of getting pregnant? Last Reviewed: Jun 28, First Name required First Name Required. Last Name required Last Name Required. Email required Email Required. When your doctor talks to you about your blood pressure, he's referring to the force of your blood pushing against your artery walls.

The top number in your blood pressure is called the systolic blood pressure. That's the pressure in your blood vessels while your heart is pumping. The bottom number is called the diastolic blood pressure and that's the pressure when your heart rests between beats.

You want your blood pressure to stay at over 80 or less. A blood pressure of over 90 or more is considered high. Why is high blood pressure a problem, you ask? Well, you can think of high blood pressure as being like a river that's rushing too hard, eventually it's going to damage its banks. With high blood pressure, the extra force of your blood pushing against your artery walls eventually damages them.

It can also damage your heart, your kidneys, and other organs. So, how do you know if you have high blood pressure? Often you don't know, because high blood pressure doesn't have symptoms like a fever or cough. Usually there are no symptoms at all, and you won't be able to find out that you have high blood pressure unless you've had it checked, or you've developed complications like heart disease or kidney problems.

You can check your blood pressure yourself with a home monitor, or have it checked at your doctor's office. If it's high, you and your doctor will set a blood pressure goal. You can achieve that goal in different ways, like eating a healthy diet, exercising for at least 30 minutes a day, quitting smoking, eating less than 1, milligrams of salt per day, and using programs like meditation and yoga to relieve your stress.