Symptomatic arterial hypertension

Causes of occurrence

Symptomatic hypertension - high blood pressure resulting from damage to organs or body systems involved in the regulation of blood pressure.

In this case, intravascular blockage by atherosclerotic plaques or vasoconstriction occurs due to an increased amount of enzymes that regulate the diameter of the artery. This type of disease refers to secondary hypertension.

When hypertension is detected in this form, vital organs of a person are affected: the brain, kidneys, heart, blood vessels, liver.

Increased intravascular pressure is a consequence of pathological processes occurring in these organs; in rare cases, hypertension can be a source of pathology in target organs.

Based on statistics, secondary hypertension in this form manifests itself in 5-15% of cases recorded by doctors. At the same time, the complaints of people with primary and symptomatic hypertension were almost identical.

Based on the etiology of the disease, there are about 70 names of diagnoses that provoke an increase in intravascular pressure. This factor is nothing more than a symptom, so you should consult a doctor and not self-medicate. Consider the most common phenomena in which people develop hypertension:

1. Most often, secondary intravascular hypertension occurs in the renal form, due to diseases of the urinary organs, kidneys, and renal vessels. These deviations can be congenital and acquired.

Congenital include: abnormal development of organs, renal polycystic disease, hypoplasia, mobile kidney, hydronephrosis, dystopia.

It is customary to refer to acquired ones: systemic vasculitis, diffuse glomerulonephritis, urolithiasis, oncological diseases of the renal, urinary and vascular systems, atherosclerosis, pyelonephritis, thrombosis, renal tuberculosis, embolism of the kidney arteries.

1. The endocrine form of secondary hypertension occurs against the background of pathological processes of the endocrine glands. Thyrotoxicosis, Itsenko-Cushing's syndrome, Pheochromocytoma and Conn's syndrome are prime examples of this phenomenon.

Thyrotoxicosis is a disease provoked by a violation of the functionality of the thyroid gland. In this case, an excess amount of thyroxine (hormone) enters the body. This disease is characterized by an extraordinary increase in intravascular pressure, in which diastolic values ​​remain within the normal range, and systolic values ​​increase greatly.

Pheochromocytoma also refers to the endocrine form of hypertension and arises from a tumor of the adrenal glands. An increase in intravascular pressure is the main symptom of the disease. In this case, the values ​​can vary for each person individually: in one patient to keep within certain limits, and in the other - to cause hypertensive attacks.

Aldosteroma or Conn's syndrome appears due to an increased release of a hormone into the bloodstream - aldosterone, which provokes untimely excretion of sodium from the body. An excessive amount of this enzyme can negatively affect a person.

Itsenko-Cushing's syndrome most often provokes secondary hypertension in the endocrine form (almost 80% of cases). The main signs of the disease are the mismatch of the face and limbs. In this case, the legs and arms of the patient remain unchanged, and the face takes on a moon-like, puffy shape.

Menopause can also cause hypertension due to decreased sexual activity.

1. The neurogenic form of arterial hypertension is characterized by a failure in the functionality of the nervous system. The cause of neurogenic secondary arterial hypertension is craniocerebral trauma, ischemic conditions, the occurrence of neoplasms, encephalitis in the region of the brain. In this case, many different symptoms arise, so this type of hypertension can be easily confused with heart disease (without special diagnostics).

Treatment of this kind of hypertension is aimed at restoring brain functions and organ performance.

1. Hemodynamic symptomatic manifestations of hypertension arise from damage to the heart arteries and the organ itself: aortic narrowing of a congenital nature, atherosclerosis, bradycardia, congenital mitral valve disease, ischemic disease, heart failure. Very often, doctors establish a discrepancy in blood pressure indicators in this form of the disease: it is the systolic values ​​that are increased.

Also, symptomatic hypertension can result from a combination of several heart or cardiovascular diseases.

Doctors often recorded drug symptomatic arterial hypertension, which appeared as a result of a person's use of medications that increase the intravascular values ​​of the tonometer, namely: contraceptives, drugs containing glucocorticoids, indomethacin combined with ephedrine, levothyroxine.

It is also worth noting that symptomatic hypertension is divided into transient, loving, stable and malignant. Such a variety of the course of hypertensive diseases depends on the cause of their occurrence, damage to target organs and neglect of the disease, therefore it is recommended to pay attention to the symptoms inherent in intravascular arterial hypertension, and at the slightest increase in pressure (in a calm state), consult a doctor.

Symptoms of secondary arterial hypertension

In addition to an increase in intravascular pressure in secondary hypertension, the patient also has other symptoms. Experts registered clinical manifestations of symptomatic hypertension, consisting of 3 factors: increased blood pressure values ​​(expressed by persistence or jumps in indicators), deterioration of the general condition and the presence of symptoms inherent in the pathological process proceeding in hemodynamic, neurogenic, endocrine and renal forms.

In some cases, pathological processes occur in a latent form, but provoke the only symptom that indicates them - a secondary hypertensive disease. Therefore, one should not listen to the opinion of relatives, friends and resort to treatment without careful medical diagnosis, or treat hypertension exclusively with folk remedies.

Symptomatic hypertensive disease can be expressed by symptoms that can be present stably within certain limits, or suddenly appear and disappear. A hypertensive person may notice the following ailments:

• Pain in the region, occiput, temples, frontal lobe.
• Difficulty passing urine.
• Head whirling.
• Nausea associated with vomiting.
• Convulsions.
• Impaired attention or memory.
• Fatigue and weakness, lethargy.
• The appearance of "flies" before the eyes.
• Increase in the frequency of night trips to the toilet.
• Impotence or menstrual irregularities.
• Excessive excretion of urine from the body.
• Increased fatigue.
• Noise in ears.
• Discomfort or pain in the heart area.
• Shaking of the body or hands.
• Hair build-up on the body.
• Brittle bones.
• Feverish condition.
• A rise in body temperature not caused by an infectious disease.
• Deviations from the psyche (central nervous system), in the form of apathy or psychological agitation. They arise as a result of the transfer of patients with a hypertensive crisis.

Given that the central nervous system experiences a stressful state triggered by an illness, it can greatly disturb a person with bouts of fear, panic, anxiety, fear of death.

The symptoms of an additional nature are rapid heartbeat, increased sweating and pallor of the skin without factors that can affect these manifestations.

It is also worth noting that the above symptoms are similar to those of intracranial hypertension. This fact once again proves the need for a medical examination.

Peculiarities

Based on the manifestations of hypertension, many people confuse secondary hypertension with primary. In this case, improper treatment leads to unexpected consequences: hypertensive crisis, ischemic heart disease, stroke, myocardial infarction, which significantly complicates the course of the disease and leads to premature death.

Symptomatic hypertension differs from the primary one in the following ways:

• Using antihypertensive drugs, blood pressure is not always normalized, or it takes a long time to return to normal.
• Frequent panic attacks occur.
• Pressure surges occur suddenly, stay at the same rates or return to normal for a short time.
• The disease progresses rapidly.
• It is observed in a person under 20 years old, or who has lived over 60 years.

If you have the above symptoms and signs of secondary hypertensive disease, then you should immediately go to the doctor. It is important to remember: the earlier the diagnosis was made, the easier it is to eliminate the cause of intravascular pressure and prevent complications.

Treatment

Treatment of the secondary form of arterial hypertension is aimed at reducing intravascular parameters. Naturally, this will become possible after eliminating the cause of their appearance - pathological processes in the body.

For this, 2 types of therapy are used:

1. Surgery. This allows you to eliminate neoplasms of the endocrine glands, brain and kidneys, heart defects that provoke hypertension. If necessary, during the operation, artificial implants are implanted in a person, or the affected parts of the organs are removed.
2. Drug therapy is required when, after surgery, hypertension persists due to incurable hormonal disorders. In this case, the patient must use drugs until death (continuously).

For treatment, drugs are used - antagonists that block the production of harmful hormones and stop the development of hypertension: diuretics, sartans, ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers, centrally acting drugs, alpha-blockers and drugs that block vascular receptors.
Consequently, secondary hypertension is characterized by a complex human condition, including pathological diseases of target organs, therefore, in this case, self-medication is unacceptable. It is recommended to undergo an annual examination by a cardiologist, even if hypertensive symptoms are completely absent, because a person may not pay attention to mild malaise (write off hypertension as fatigue) or not notice the appearance of latent hypertension, allowing the disease to actively gain momentum and shorten life.