Alcohol increase the risk of hypertension

Hypertension rarely has any obvious symptoms, meaning it is particularly dangerous and often left untreated. Without treatment, hypertension significantly increases the risk of stroke, heart disease, vascular dementia (dementia caused by not enough blood being able to get to the brain) and chronic kidney disease.

The association between alcohol consumption and elevated blood pressure was first observed among French soldiers in 1915. Today, excessive alcohol consumption is an established risk factor for hypertension and for both hemorrhagic stroke and ischemic stroke.

Consumption of a single alcoholic drink may cause an acute rise in blood pressure that resolves within 2 hours. Clinical studies with small sample sizes of subjects have suggested that alcohol consumption over several days may cause a more sustained rise in blood pressure.

The evidence also clearly shows reducing alcohol consumption lowers blood pressure and reduces the chance of developing hypertension.

Several other biologic effects of alcohol have been suggested to contribute to the decreased incidence of IS in moderate drinkers, including elevated HDL cholesterol, lowered fibrinogen levels, impaired primary hemostasis, better endothelial function, and some anti-inflammatory actions of alcohol.
Alcohol increase the risk of hypertension

What is stroke?

Stroke has been recognized for thousands of years and is the third most common cause of death after heart disease and cancer in developed countries.

Approximately 550,000 people suffer a stroke each year nearly 150, 000 people die from stroke, and about 3 million stroke survivors have varying degrees of residual neurological impairment.

It is a disease of the brain and is caused by a blockage or rupture of the essential blood supply that results in an acute clinical syndrome lasting more than 24 hours.

There is clear neurological deficit and some degree of permanent brain damage.

Based on the blood vessel involved the symptoms are different and specific and often help pinpoint the exact location of the lesion in the central nervous system.

The two most common types of stroke are:
*Ischemic – blockage
*Hemorrhagic (intracerebral) – bleeding

While some risk factors for ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke are different, the following risk factors are applicable to 90% of strokes:
*High blood pressure
*Smoking
*Waist to hip ratio
*Unhealthy diet
*Consuming too much alcohol
What is stroke?

Resistant hypertension definition

Resistant hypertension is best defined as a blood pressure that remains above goal despite the concurrent use of three antihypertensive agents from different classes, prescribed at optimal dosses, one of which is ideally a diuretic.

The definition also includes patients with normal or elevated blood pressure in the setting of four or more antihypertensive agents.

Central obesity and older age are consistent risk factors for resistant hypertension and as the population ages and gains weight it can be expected that its prevalence will rise further.

Other important risk factors include, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, consumption of a high-salt diet, African-American race, and female gender.

Poor adherence, failure to modify lifestyle, inadequate treatment, white coat hypertension and secondary hypertension are all common aetiologies.

Patients with resistant hypertension require careful assessment and vigorous treatment, given their greater degree of target organ damage and adverse long-term cardiovascular risk.
Resistant hypertension definition

What is primary hypertension?

There are two main categories of hypertension: primary hypertension and secondary hypertension. Primary hypertension, also known as essential hypertension, is responsible for 90% to 95% of all hypertension. 

Secondary hypertension accounts for the remaining percentage.

The genesis of primary hypertension is multifactorial and complex. Primary hypertension usually begins insidiously as a benign disease, slowly progressing to malignant state.

A simplistic explanation of the pathogenesis is that there is specific mechanism appear to be involved in the development of primary hypertension: altered regulation of the sympathetic nervous system, abnormalities of the rennin-angiotensin- aldosterone system, salt sensitivity, as well as other vascular and hormonal factors. 

Carefully managed treatment, which may include lifestyle modification and drug therapy, improves the prognosis. Untreated, it carries a high mortality rate.

Risk factors associated with the development of primary hypertension include elevated blood lipid levels, smoking, diabetes, age older than 60 years, gender and family history of cardiovascular disease.

The majority of patients who developed primary hypertension do so between 20 to 50 years of age. 

Primary hypertension has a strong link with obesity and insulin resistance and it is greater in those patients with central obesity.

Obesity and the concomitant resultant hyperinsulinemia stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, thereby contributing to hypertension.
What is primary hypertension?

Treating Hypertension

Hypertension is a problem that clinicians face many of their patients. Its prevalence is increasing because of the obesity epidemic and because of the aging of the population.

Hypertension compounds the risk for cardiovascular events and contributes to negative outcomes of cardiovascular disease.

Thus, it must be treated. Lifestyle modification and pharmacotherapy can be employed to gain control of blood pressure in hypertensive, and pre-hypertensive, patients.

Research is examining new ways to measure blood pressure, new ways to interpret those measurement and new approaches to treatment.

By incorporating available treatment approaches and the latest guideline into treatment of these patients it is possible to lessen and even prevent, many of the sequel of uncontrolled blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
Treating Hypertension

Smoking and High Blood Pressure

Smoking and High Blood Pressure
Smoking is not a cause of high blood pressure, but it enormously increases the risks associated with it. If you have high blood pressure already, then if you also smoke you are three times more likely to have heart attack than non smokers if you are less than 50 years old, and twice as likely to have one if you are over 50. Heart attacks in people under 45, and in women at all ages, happen much more frequently in smokers.

Smoking is a powerful risk factor in its own right, not only for coronary heart disease and stroke, but also for cancer of the mouth, nose, throat, lung, bladder and pancreas, and for asthma and other lung diseases. Unlike all other risk factors, it also affects your colleagues, family and friends (through passive smoking and the example you set to your children) and it costs as lot of money you could spend better in other ways.
Smoking and High Blood Pressure