We all acknowledge that high blood pressure is bad for our health. And yet, since we don’t feel any immediate effects, we tend to ignore the issue. It’s true, our bodies are incredibly adaptable and even with abnormal blood pressures, we can still function as if nothing is wrong with us. That is until something does go wrong and our health is badly affected.
There are many hidden hindrances that high blood pressure can cause and although on their own they don’t seem like a big deal, collated together they can have a severe impact on our quality of life. If you have been putting off tackling this issue for yourself, here are some eye-opening factors that will get you off the sofa and fixing the problem.
A strange sense of fatigue
The body likes to remain active. It keeps all our systems in check, by having an active lifestyle which puts our muscles and nerves to the test every now and again. Contrary to popular belief, exercising doesn’t make you feel tired all the time. In fact, living a sedentary lifestyle is more likely to make you feel tired easily.
However, tired and fatigue are not the same thing. Fatigue is felt in the muscles and can be described as a sensation whereby the muscles feel stiff, heavy and as though lactic acid is on the surface. This can occur even when you’re still due to high blood pressure. Every time blood moves through a muscle, it’s delivering a fresh supply of oxygen.
If your muscles are not as healthy as they could be, they tend not to absorb the oxygen as efficiently as they could. Thus you instead have a build-up of carbon dioxide which leads to the muscle feel cramp, fatigue and stiff. You can solve both problems, by exercising more often.
A constant ringing
High blood pressure also affects your hearing, in the form of tinnitus. Tinnitus is a common condition whereby around 15-20% of the population suffers from it. It’s easy to know when you have tinnitus because you hear a constant ringing noise in your ears. It can lead to insomnia because in the dead of night when all else is silent, you cannot shake off a ringing noise. This can lead to sleepless nights because it’s hard for your mind to switch off when it’s being bombarded with white noise.
Your patience and concentration are also affected, which can lead to issues at work. It’s easy to fall behind on tasks and being unable to focus on complex tasks due to the constant ringing. If your tinnitus gets really severe you will need to be fitted for a hearing aid. The ringing might be so loud that you’re unable to clearly hear what someone is saying.
Shortness of breath
Don’t do this at home. When you take in deep breaths, one after the other, your body gears into an active mode. This means that your brain puts your body into an exercise mode, whereby strenuous physical action is taken. Since you’re doing this while stationary, your body doesn’t need all the extra oxygen so you literally receive an overdose of oxygen causing oxygen toxicity.
When you have high blood pressure, your natural instinct is to take deep breaths. Since your heart rate is high from the abnormal pressure, your chest might feel tight. In order to relax our muscles, we take sharp long breaths. Inadvertently, this can lead to slight oxygen toxicity which makes you feel lightheaded and nauseous.
The cycle then repeats itself. You feel shortness of breath, but by breathing in deeply, you feel even worse. The simple answer is to become more active and watch your diet carefully. Eat fewer saturated fats which are the primary source for your body to make cholesterol. A little cholesterol is necessary, but too much can clog arteries and combined with high blood pressure, cause respiratory concerns.
Chronic heart issues
High blood pressure will cause you to have continual heart conditions. It’s not something that happens once or twice, chronic heart issues will continue as long as you have high blood pressure. The heart has to work harder to pump the extra volumes of blood, thus wall erosion occurs over the years. The thinner your heart walls, the less pressure it can handle. Over time, high blood pressure can lead to chronic heart failure, which is obviously life-threatening.
When you’re young and healthy, high blood pressure doesn’t seem like a big deal. But eventually, mother nature will catch up with you and your blood pressure will cause multiple problems.