Arterial hypertension - blood pressure exceeding 140/90 mm Hg – is among the most frequent diseases affecting the heart and vascular system. It affects approximately 20 to 30 percent of the adult population. Thanks to its complications, hypertension affects morbidity and mortality. According to estimates, as much as twenty five percent of deaths above the age of 40 are either directly or indirectly linked to high blood pressure. If hypertension remains untreated, the risk of vascular and heart disease, including death from sudden myocardial infarction, increases.
Symptoms
Arterial hypertension has no characteristic symptoms. You may not know of your disease for a long time and high blood pressure is discovered either by chance or at the onset of complications. Sometimes patients may suffer from headache, fatigue, sleep disorders. In advanced stages, symptoms associated with damage to other organs induced by long-term high blood pressure appear: dyspnoea, chest pain, myocardial infarction, disorders of the kidneys and eyes.
Causes
In so-called primary hypertension, the cause is not known. Its risk increases in persons who are overweight, when excessive amounts of salt are ingested, in alcoholics, when excessive amounts of coffee and tea are ingested, and in persons suffering from chronic stress.
Secondary hypertension is a complication of another known disease. It may be induced e.g. by excessive administration of drugs (corticosteroids, contraceptives or steroids), by drug abuse (e.g. cocaine), pregnancy, organ disease such as aortal stenosis, kidney and adrenal disease, brain tumours, or sleep disorders (obstructive sleep apnoea) etc.
Prevention
Basic measures for the prevention of hypertension include maintaining normal body weight (the body mass index– BMI should be up to 25), decreasing sodium (salt) intake, exercise and physical activity- at least half an hour every day e.g. rapid walking, decreasing alcohol intake, special dietary supplements recommended individually by the physician, and last but not least a change in diet (e.g. enriched by unsaturated fatty acids and restriction of saturated fatty acids).
Treatment
In the case of secondary hypertension, the underlying disease must be treated. In the case of primary hypertension, it is important to reduce salt intake, restrict smoking and alcohol consumption, increase physical activity, and minimise stress. If these regimen measures do not reduce blood pressure to normal levels, drugs are administered: diuretics, beta-blockers, vasodilators, ACE inhibitors, alpha-blockers, centrally acting drugs.
How can GenScan reveal the risk of developing hypertension?
Heredity plays an important role in the development of hypertension. The genetic analysis will study the polymorphisms of genes directly involved in the regulation of blood pressure (e.g. the renin-angiotensin system). This will enable the physician to recommend appropriate preventive measures.