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High blood pressure affects over 75 million adults in the United States. Unfortunately, it’s not a health issue that stops there. Having high blood pressure, especially without controlling it with medication, diet, or exercise, can lead to other more serious health problems. Don’t underestimate the domino effect of high blood pressure– it’s is dangerous for the population’s overall health.

Domino Effect of High Blood Pressure

Unfortunately, high blood pressure can quietly sneak up on you if you aren’t regularly checking your blood pressure. It shows no symptoms and can cause problems without any knowledge of it.

High blood pressure begins when plaque from cholesterol or fat builds up in the blood vessels and arteries. This is caused by eating too many foods that are high in fat and the fat enters the bloodstream.

The domino effect of high blood pressure can be life-threatening since impeded blood flow in one place can affect other parts of your body.

Brain Damage

Having clogged arteries and blood vessels can seriously affect your brain function. Your brain needs plenty of fresh, circulating blood to continue to work.

High blood pressure can cause “mini-strokes” called transient ischemic attacks (TIA) which is caused by a temporary cutoff of blood supply. While this kind of stroke isn’t as dangerous as a normal stroke, it is a good sign that you’re at risk for one.

Strokes happen when brain cells die due to lack of oxygen and nutrients in the brain. High blood pressure can weaken blood vessels and cause a leak, which would prevent sufficient blood to feed the brain.

Another potential risk from high blood pressure is dementia, which results in memory loss and difficulties thinking, seeing, and speaking. Dementia, like strokes, is caused by a lack of blood supply to the brain.

Heart Damage

Your left ventricle, which receives blood from the rest of the body can become enlarged and damaged from working harder than it should be due to high blood pressure. When this happens, your risk for heart failure and heart attack increases.

Additionally, heart failure and coronary heart disease are both serious risks in the domino effect of high blood pressure. Heart failure is due to your heart being progressively weakened from working overtime.

Coronary heart disease affects the arteries that feed your heart, which can lead to a heart attack.

Kidney Damage

Though high blood pressure may be more commonly associated with heart and brain problems, the domino effect of high blood pressure also reaches the kidneys.

Kidney failure is the biggest health risk with your kidneys. High blood pressure can be extremely harmful to your kidneys by impairing the arteries that feed the kidneys as well as the blood vessels inside of the kidneys.

If your kidneys can’t function right, it won’t filter out toxins as needed and your blood may become contaminated. If this occurs, you may need to get a kidney transplant.

High blood pressure is a serious issue that needs to handled as such. Many people do not take preventative measures and the results are not in their favor.

To avoid the domino effect of high blood pressure, be sure to eat a healthy, balanced diet and exercise regularly. It’s small amounts of action each day that can create a healthy lifestyle.

Taking supplements like L-Arginine Plus can also help you to lower your blood pressure and keep your heart, brain, and kidneys healthy.

Resources

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/in-depth/high-blood-pressure/art-20045868?pg=1