Violation of blood pressure provokes malfunctions of the whole body. Despite the fact that it is impossible to completely recover from this disease, the course of the disease can be made less noticeable and problematic for the patient.
Target Organs
Arterial hypertension is a chronic ailment that is associated with increased pressure inside the vascular walls. In this case, it is very important to distinguish between rare situations when a person's blood pressure rises, and the real manifestation of this disease. A one-time increase can occur for various reasons, and often does not repeat itself in a short time. The cause can be a person's excitement, hormonal disruptions, or injury.
Asking the question what is arterial hypertension, it is necessary to understand the term "hypertension". This is a temporary increase in blood pressure over 140/90. But in medicine, it is customary to call hypertension a condition in which a person has consistently high rates. They rarely fall below the indicated numbers on their own.
The negative side of this disease is that not only the cardiovascular system suffers from chronically high blood pressure. In medicine, there is such a thing as target organs. The essence of the problem lies in the fact that constantly high blood pressure has a negative effect on a number of organs - the heart, kidneys, brain and retina. The disease will negatively affect the entire body, but they suffer first. Even the principle of classifying an ailment depends on which organ has been negatively affected.
Stages of the disease
The disease has various forms, which depend on how it is classified. They can depend on the origin, on the course, and on the level of blood pressure. The last form of arterial hypertension is most easily determined, since patients can also find out their pressure at home.
Like other ailments, the development of hypertension has several degrees, which, without the necessary treatment, only worsen. There are norms that help determine the stage of the disease. It is impossible to draw conclusions after one or two measurements of a person's pressure, since this approach may give incorrect indicators. If a person has previously taken certain medications or had an emotional outburst, and no matter the emotions were good or bad, the indicators may change. This will not allow you to see the real picture of the patient's health.
Do not confuse high blood pressure, which is within the normal range, with the way arterial hypertension manifests itself. A pressure of 120/80 is considered normal for the human body, but pressure up to 129/84 can also be referred to as normal. Increased pressure is considered to be 139/89, but it is not classified as a degree of hypertension. Hypertension is considered to be pressure that exceeds 140/90.
Table 1. Degree of hypertension and pressure level
| The degree of arterial hypertension | Indicators |
|---|---|
| Norm | 120/80 to 139/89 |
| 1 degree of hypertension | 140/90 to 159/99 |
| 2 degree of hypertension | 160/100 to 179/109 |
| 3 degree of hypertension | 180/110 and above |
In addition to the very definition of "hypertension" and the classification of the disease according to the degree of development, there is also a division into primary and secondary hypertension. Primary develops as an independent pathology, and often other problems in the human body are not found in this case. If we are talking about secondary hypertension, then it becomes the result of existing diseases in the human body.
First degree
It is considered to be a mild form of the disease, while the blood pressure values do not exceed 160/100, and the attacks are generally without serious consequences. Arterial hypertension of the 1st degree is characterized by abrupt disorders that occur in the work of the heart. The periods of exacerbation can hardly be called rare, but due to the insignificant manifestation and chronic course of the disease, they are tolerated by the patient quite easily. Exacerbation alternates with normal indicators, during this period the patient does not feel the symptoms of the disease.
To adequately assess the situation, it is necessary to measure pressure with a tonometer several times a day. This is usually done three times a day in the absence of emotional outbursts or other reasons that can affect a short-term change in blood pressure indicators.
Arterial hypertension of the 1st degree has its own symptoms, which often patients may not take seriously. The disease can manifest itself as headache, palpitations, or pain on the left side of the sternum. Often, patients are confused by the fact that first-degree hypertension is characterized by rarely-appearing symptoms.
But even a mild degree of hypertension can have its own complications, which are fraught with serious disorders in the human body. This:
- microinfarctions of the brain;
- hypertrophy of the heart muscle;
- nephrosclerosis.
It is a mistake to assume that arterial hypertension of the 1st degree can disappear without a trace if it is treated with medications. It can be argued that a patient with first-degree hypertension is at risk of developing complications. Statistics indicate about 15% of this probability.
When a patient was diagnosed with grade 1 hypertension, the situation is as follows: high pressure can be triggered by narrowed lumens in the vessels, which leads to insufficient nutrition of the body tissues. In the absence of a normal amount of nutrients and oxygen in the cells, necrosis develops. Initially, this process is not noticeable, but over time, necrosis of some organs in the patient's body may occur, and not just certain cells. Lack of treatment provokes an ischemic stroke.
If the patient has high blood pressure, then even hypertension of the 1st degree gives a very high risk of developing heart problems.
A change in the indicators upward gives an additional load on the heart, which, trying to push blood through the narrow lumens of the vessels, is overstrained. Everyone knows that with additional load, muscles begin to grow, and this also happens to heart tissues. It may seem that hypertension of the 1st degree rather reduces the risk, because the heart can pump blood more efficiently, but this is not entirely true. Cardiomyopathy can compress nearby vessels and even cause death.
Second degree
With the second degree of arterial hypertension, the patient's pressure will be up to 180/110 mm Hg. In this case, there are much more reasons for concern in patients than in hypertension of the 1st degree, the risk of complications in which occurs less often.
The second degree of hypertension is characterized by the fact that the pressure returns to normal extremely rarely, it can decrease and increase, but not reach the permissible limits. Usually, hypertension of the 1st degree has a risk of passing into the same disease of the 2nd degree, then the appearance of benign or malignant arterial hypertension can be determined. To clarify what kind of arterial hypertension the patient has, what it bears, and what risks arise, the speed of development of pathology helps.
In patients, vascular insufficiency, pulsation in the head, hyperemia, problems with vision clarity and hypertensive crises are added to the already familiar symptoms.The problem of the latter is that the pressure can change dramatically by 59 units, which negatively affects the patient's body. With the second degree of hypertension, complications are possible:
- cerebral thrombosis;
- aortic aneurysm;
- atherosclerosis;
- angina pectoris;
- encephalopathy.
The peculiarity of this degree of development of hypertension is that target organs are damaged. In patients with this diagnosis, hemorrhages in one of the organs are possible. This is due to the fact that at a later degree of arterial hypertension, the vessels lose their previous elasticity and can be destroyed much more easily. There are also serious risks of blood clots on the walls of blood vessels, the lumen of which is already reduced.
Due to serious problems that can arise with the second degree of arterial hypertension, the patient may become disabled. Most often they give 3 group. But this does not mean that it is enough for the patient to measure his blood pressure several times and show that it exceeds the permissible norm. 
The commission takes into account the complications that have arisen against the background of this disease, collects information about hypertensive crises, as well as about the patient's working conditions - only then can we talk about receiving a cash benefit.
The paradox of the situation is that some patients, at the first symptoms, try to get this help, while others, on the contrary, hide their disease. This is most often done by employees who can be fired because of the working conditions that they will be entitled to after that (more sick leave, increased annual leave). But we must not forget that in the second degree of hypertension, additional stress can have serious consequences that will rapidly aggravate the disease.
It is worth noting a special case, which is possible with the second degree of arterial hypertension. When it comes to malignant pathology, the commission can assign group 2 disability. Men over 60, women over 55, as well as patients with irreversible defects are given disability for life. This means that there will be no need to pass the commission annually to confirm the status.
Third degree
By the pressure of a person, the degree of the disease can be determined. When the indicators begin to reach extremely high rates - from 180/110 mm Hg, the patient will be diagnosed with a third, severe degree of hypertension. In this case, the complications are very serious, most of them, if medical care is not provided in a timely manner, can lead to death. This can be stroke, cardiac asthma, myocardial infarction, kidney failure, and other diseases.
Assessing the severity of this degree, patients are assigned 1 disability group. Assessing the degree of risk of developing diseases, the patient must undergo rehabilitation without fail. There is no need to talk about the treatment of this degree, but this approach will help to avoid premature death.
There is a concept of fourth degree hypertension. In this case, it is quite difficult for a person to help, because he is practically on the verge of death. Medication can help relieve symptoms and reduce blood pressure levels dramatically. Hypertensive crises are pronounced and very frequent.
Risk levels
Usually, when diagnosing, the patient is indicated with the degree of disease and risk. This indicator can be influenced by age, gender, obesity, bad habits and other factors.
There are four degrees of risk. The most optimal hypertension is considered grade 1 risk 1, the likelihood of developing side diseases is low, less than 15%. Arterial hypertension of 1 degree (risk 2) is one of the most popular diagnoses. This is due to the fact that few patients lead a lifestyle that would in no way complicate the disease. When grade 1 arterial hypertension (risk 2) is diagnosed, the likelihood of complications ranges from 15% to 20%.
The risk of grade 3 is 20-30% of the likelihood of developing diseases. They call him tall. There is also a 4 degree, when the likelihood of developing pathologies exceeds 30%. All forecasts of the degree of risk are calculated for the next 10 years in the absence of changes in the patient's lifestyle.
Depending on the lesion of the patient's internal organs, doctors indicate the stage and degree of hypertension in terms of indicators. It is the stage of the disease that determines which organs have been damaged.
Stage 1 of the disease, in fact, has no indicators, because only an increase in pressure occurs, and human organs are not damaged. With stage 1 hypertension, the patient will have optimistic forecasts for the future.
At the 2nd stage of the disease, the first signs of vasoconstriction are found, plaques appear, and creatinine in the blood plasma rises. All changes that occur in the internal organs usually do not have serious changes, and with proper treatment, complications can be prevented.
Unlike stage 2, the third is characterized by specific diseases, and not just partial changes. This is pronounced arterial hypertension, which means that the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, the appearance of heart and renal failure and other characteristic diseases increases significantly in patients.
Features of the disease
Arterial hypertension is common throughout the world, and it is most common in highly developed countries. First of all, this is due to the fact that an active life implies communication with a large number of people, and this entails different emotions, both good and bad, which leads to constant surges in pressure.
For many, it does not even become difficult to answer the question, what is it? The prevalence of the disease makes it possible to call this pathology the plague of the 21st century. There is such a thing as arterial hypertension syndrome, this is chronic vascular insufficiency, the same hypertension. It is the disturbances in the work of blood vessels that provoke the syndrome of arterial hypertension.
Gestational arterial hypertension is extremely negative for a woman. The appearance of this pathology is associated with pregnancy, a woman during this period is contraindicated in taking most drugs.
At the same time, the lack of treatment can have extremely negative consequences. Statistics show that gestational arterial hypertension is the cause of about a third of maternal deaths during childbirth, and it can also provoke fetal death or premature birth.
In addition to the fact that the patient must know the symptoms of hypertension, and what it is, it is necessary to go to the hospital in time, because it is much easier to treat the disease at the first stage. It is necessary to consult with the attending physician about increasing the dose or using other drugs. Self-medication can make the condition worse.
