Pathogenesis of arterial hypertension

External influence

Arterial hypertension is a pathologically high blood pressure. For the onset of this disease, a number of predisposing factors are required.

Increased cardiac output can increase blood pressure, and increased total peripheral resistance can also be affected.

In some patients, both are present when this problem occurs. The onset of the development of the disease often does not cause particular concern, this is due to the fact that during this period the mechanisms that contribute to the occurrence of this pathology are suppressed by those that normalize it. Their mutual influence will directly affect how the disease develops.

Arterial hypertension has a peculiar pathogenesis for different groups of the population. The occurrence of this disease can be influenced by both internal and external causes. Often, a person leads his usual way of life, not even suspecting that he is standing in the way of the development of the disease.

As in the case of other diseases, the development of hypertension is influenced by the environment. Therefore, there are problems that can be avoided by changing lifestyle and habits. These include:

• Constant stress at work and at home.
• Previous injuries include falls, bruises and even hypothermia.
• Smoking and drinking large amounts of alcohol.
• Addiction to drinking coffee.
• Eating a lot of salt.
• Long time spending at a computer or laptop.
• Sedentary work.
• Lack of physical activity.
• Rare walks on the street or their complete absence.

It is believed that it is the impact on the mental and emotional health of the patient that most adversely affects the body. Such problems affect the inhibitory processes of the cerebral cortex and provoke stagnation of the focus of excitation in the hypothalamic-pituitary system. This process, in turn, affects fat-protein metabolism, and also disrupts the regulation of subcortical vegetative centers. This leads to high blood pressure.

Internal factors

The development of the disease is influenced not only by the environment. There are processes inside the body that cannot be avoided, and some are quite difficult to prevent. These include:

• overweight;
• chronic diseases;
• heredity;
• age-related changes;
• high cholesterol;
• viral infections;
• menopause;
• pregnancy;
• an increase in the number of red blood cells.

Each of these reasons should be given separate attention, since the presence of these factors will not always affect the appearance of hypertension. Overweight can be considered an internal problem only if the patient's metabolism is impaired. If the extra pounds appeared due to the usual overeating, then this can be called rather an external reason, a decrease in the amount of food consumed will have a positive effect on the body. The biggest problem is that even a slight increase in body weight can cause problems with blood vessels and heart.

Among chronic diseases, only those that affect the cardiovascular system can be considered. It can be gout, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis. The development of arterial hypertension is also influenced by heredity. Statistics show that children whose parents have had similar problems will also feel them. The worst thing is that the first symptoms will appear at a fairly young age.

Like the whole body, the vessels wear out over time and cannot perform their functions as before, which can also cause diseases of the cardiovascular system. In addition to these changes, high cholesterol leads to the formation of plaque. Their negative effect is that they interfere with normal blood circulation, which provokes spasms in the vessels, problems with the flow of blood to some organs. Such changes in blood vessels can provoke a heart attack or stroke. There are a number of infectious diseases, the consequences of which can manifest themselves in the form of arterial hypertension. These include: frontal sinusitis, meningitis, sinusitis.

With the onset of menopause, hormonal changes occur in a woman's body. This does not so much affect the development of hypertension as it provokes the development of latent diseases. And these ailments, as in a chain, become the cause of the appearance of arterial hypertension.

The period of pregnancy includes a lot of factors that can provoke hypertension. First of all, this is an additional load on the cardiovascular system. For several months, the woman's body weight increases, and the hormonal background is also rebuilt, which can become an additional impetus for the development of the disease. In the later stages, the position of the heart may slightly change.

The development of the disease is greatly influenced by the composition of the blood. Particular attention should be paid to the number of red blood cells. With an increase in the number of red blood cells, the blood becomes thicker, which complicates its pumping through the vessels. Therefore, the heart makes more efforts to get it to the organs, and due to this, blood pressure increases.

Biochemical processes

The changes that occur in the human body during the development of this disease will depend on what caused it. Arterial hypertension can develop due to genetic changes. An example is a mutation of the angiotensin gene, which leads to the expression of the enzyme aldosterone synthase. Various factors can affect normal autoregulation, and therefore disrupt the balance between peripheral vascular resistance and cardiac output.

In children, as in adult patients, negative emotions that have been transferred become the cause of the onset of the disease. In this case, the sympathoadrenal system is overstrained, characterized by spasm of the smooth muscles of the arterioles. Circulating and local vasoconstrictor factors are often involved in the development of the disease. When vasoconstrictors begin to work more actively, the patient's blood pressure rises, this is a normal process that is regulated by the vasodepressor systems. With the depletion of the latter, it is difficult to normalize the process and arterial hypertension appears again.

Depending on what type of hypertension belongs to, the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease will differ. There are two main types of this pathology: primary and secondary hypertension. It is the primary one that is popularly called hypertension, this type includes those cases of high blood pressure when the cause is almost impossible to establish.

Secondary is associated with diseases of organs that can participate in the normalization of pressure. According to various sources, this type of hypertension accounts for 10% to 20% of all cases of pathology.

Hypertension stages and manifestation

Symptoms of the disease are associated with an increase in blood pressure. The patient has pain in the back of the head and temples. There is dizziness and heaviness in the head.In this regard, sleep, mood and performance of a person are disturbed. This applies not only to physical activity, but also mental. Vision and hearing problems may occur.

Patients feel disturbances in the work of the heart, in addition to constant aching pains, they are worried about shortness of breath, and general weakness. At a later stage of the disease, edema may appear. Much of the symptoms will depend on the stage of the disease.

Hypertension is usually divided into three stages, the first is the most insignificant, and the last is characterized by serious violations of the heart.

At the first stage, not many patients are able to independently determine the presence of hypertension. This is due to the fact that the pressure rises after exertion or is the result of other reasons. Rarely does this figure exceed 160/100 and within a short period of time returns to normal without much effort.

You can independently diagnose this ailment in yourself only if you constantly monitor its level and draw up a schedule for increasing pressure.

Under other circumstances, detection of the disease is nearly impossible.

The second stage has distinct symptoms, which become more frequent or more pronounced with the progression of the disease. The patient has periodic headaches, weakness, and nausea. High pressure persists for a long time, usually at the level of 160/100 or 180/110. At this stage, the disease can rarely return to normal on its own, therefore, the patient most often requires the help of specialists.

The most serious and dangerous stage is the third. Most of the symptoms are manifested as brightly as possible, the pressure readings are at the level of 180/110, and can also exceed this figure. There are pains in the heart, dizziness, increased sweating, headaches are very severe, and nausea ends with vomiting.

Patients who feel similar symptoms, and examinations confirm the third stage of the disease, need to undergo treatment in a hospital.

Treatment and prevention

With hypertension, patients will definitely need to undergo a course of treatment, which includes both medications and physiotherapy procedures. Most often, patients are prescribed drugs that reduce the level of fluid in the body, which will help lower blood pressure. Also, the attending physician assigns sartans, that is, drugs that block angiotensin II receptors. Their effect is that they reduce pressure and allow it to remain at this level for 24 hours.

If the patient has been found to have abnormalities in the work of the heart, then calcium antagonists will be needed. If necessary, vasodilators and drugs are prescribed to normalize the heart rate. Particular attention is paid to the nutrition of patients with hypertension. It is necessary to significantly reduce or completely eliminate foods that raise blood cholesterol levels. Therefore, the diet should not contain fatty, fried and smoked foods, it is also important to reduce the amount of salt consumed.

As for preventive measures, it is important to normalize the work of the whole body, and not just the cardiovascular system. Normal sleep has a positive effect on the body, it should be at least 8 hours, you should go to bed at the same time. If you have night work, you must give them up.

Proper nutrition is included not only in the course of treatment, but is also considered an excellent preventive norm, add more vegetables and fruits to your diet. Give up bad habits and normalize physical activity, if there are a lot of them, reduce it, with constant sedentary work it is necessary to increase their number. One of the most important factors is mental health. It is the stressful experiences that most often provoke the development of this disease. Meditation and auto-training can be used as prevention. If you experience the first symptoms, you should consult a doctor. Do not start self-treatment of the disease, such an approach not only will not eliminate the problem, but may also worsen the existing condition.