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What Causes High Diastolic Blood Pressure

What Is Isolated Diastolic Hypertension

High Diastolic Blood Pressure | What Causes High Diastolic Blood Pressure & How To Lower It

Hypertension is a condition in which both systolic and diastolic blood pressures are high. However, you are likely suffering from isolated diastolic hypertension when your systolic blood pressure is normal, but your diastolic blood pressure consistently remains high .

IDH is not a very common type of hypertension. It only accounts for less than 20% of all hypertension cases in the United States. Like any other type of hypertension, IDH can elevate the risk of stroke , heart disease, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, hardening of arteries, vision loss, and many other medical complications.

Endocrine And Kidney Conditions

An underactive thyroid, or hypothyroidism, is one of the more common secondary causes of IDH. As in primary hypertension, the elevated diastolic pressure is the result of excessive arteriolar narrowing.

Hypothyroidism may be suspected in a person with weight gain, fatigue and intolerance to the cold, but blood tests are required to confirm the diagnosis. Endocrine diseases producing high levels of aldosterone, parathyroid hormone or corticosteroids can also cause IDH.

Most diseases that damage the kidney can lead to IDH by reducing the ability of the kidneys to remove fluids from the body or by increasing the production of angiotensin. Renovascular hypertension, due to narrowing of the main artery leading to the kidneys, is another possible cause of IDH.

High Diastolic Blood Pressure Meaning

If youve noticed the lower number on your blood pressure measurements has been high lately, your curiosity may be peaked. Common thoughts may be, is it too high or should I be worried? Therefore, lets answer the question, what does it mean when the diastolic blood pressure number is high?

A high diastolic blood pressure number means the pressure against the artery walls is increased when the heart is relaxed. A consistently high diastolic number of 80 mmHg or more increases the risk of higher systolic blood pressure, ischemic heart disease and stroke as a person ages.

This article will explain details everyone should know about high diastolic blood pressure. Ill inform you what the different diastolic numbers indicate, causes, consequences and ways to lower it.

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High Diastolic Blood Pressure Ranges

Diastolic has different blood pressure ranges depending on what your numbers are 1. There are fine lines between normal, elevated and high. Lets take a look at the numbers and find out,;what is considered high diastolic blood pressure?

High diastolic blood pressure is a diastolic number 80 mmHg or more. High Blood Pressure Stage 1 is a diastolic number between 80-89 mmHg. High Blood Pressure Stage 2 is a diastolic number 90 mmHg or higher. Hypertensive Crisis is a diastolic number 121 mmHg or higher.

The diastolic numbers and ranges are listed in the blood pressure chart below 2.

Notice each of the high diastolic ranges is irregardless of the systolic blood pressure number. The normal and elevated ranges require both the systolic and diastolic number to fall into each range indicated with the word and.

Including Diastolic Hypertension Causes Symptoms Treatment And Medication And Possible Complications

What causes high blood pressure

Diastolic hypertension is also refereed to as Isolated Diastolic Hypertension or IDH in short. Some medical professionals are more comfortable dropping the ‘Isolated’ prefix which they worry would minimize IDH and its health implications.

While for the longest time, isolated systolic blood pressure has been clinically recognized as a hypertension subgroup, this has not been the case with diastolic high blood pressure. Yet, studies show that IDH is an emerging problem in developing countries.There are a few things to have some clarity on as we explore in detail intriguing scientific research findings to do with diastolic high blood pressure.

First…

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What Is The Best Treatment For High Blood Pressure

Treatment frequently begins with lifestyle adjustments alone if your BP puts you in the elevated or stage 1 category, with an otherwise very low risk of developing heart disease over the following 10 years. Just like the risk factors above put you in the crosshairs of HBP, reducing those risk factors can help bring your BP back down.

Heres where to start:

What Can Cause A High Systolic And Low Diastolic Blood Pressure

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What Causes High Blood Pressure In The First Place

If you have HBP, youre hardly alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , nearly half of all adults in the U.S. have hypertension or take a medication to manage it. Only one-quarter of them have it under control.

Your doctor most likely wont be able to pinpoint the reason why you have HBP. Thats because as many as 95% of HBP cases have no known cause. If you fall into this vast category, you have whats known as primary hypertension. Among the much, much smaller number of people who do have a known cause, their HBP is known as secondary high blood pressure because its caused by an underlying, or already present, health condition.

These underlying secondary causes include:

Your Blood Pressure Numbers And What They Mean

Diastolic Blood Pressure

Your blood pressure is recorded as two numbers:

  • Systolic blood pressure indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls when the heart beats.
  • Diastolic blood pressure indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls while the heart is resting between beats.

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What Qualifies As High Blood Pressure

Blood pressure consists of two numbers a top and bottom number. Thus, there are three types of hypertension.

  • High diastolic blood pressure called diastolic hypertension occurs when the bottom number is above 80 mmHg.
  • High systolic blood pressure called systolic hypertension is present when the top number is above 130 mmHG.
  • Mixed hypertension occurs when both numbers are high.
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    Measuring Your Blood Pressure At Home

    You can also diagnose yourself with hypertension by measuring your blood pressure at home. If readings are high over two visits at the doctors office, and if your blood pressure is higher than 135/85 mmHg when properly measured at home, then the diagnosis of hypertension can be made. This requires you to measure your blood pressure twice a day, in the morning and evening, for one week. Pay no attention to the measurements from the first day. Measuring blood pressure at home requires accurate equipment and proper measuring techniques. Measure the blood pressure of others in your house; their blood pressure may also be high.

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    Symptoms Of High Blood Pressure

    High blood pressure is known as the silent killer because it typically has no symptoms. In fact, most people dont even realize they have hypertension until their blood pressure is monitored.

    Symptoms dont develop until the numbers get very high and organs get damaged, often irreversibly, says Dr. Desai.

    If you have severe hypertension, you might notice the below symptoms, some of which were reported by patients in a study in the British Journal of General PracticeGoodhart A. Hypertension from the patients perspective. British Journal of General Practice. 2016;66:570. :

    • Headaches
    • Rapid heart rate

    How Is High Blood Pressure Diagnosed In A Child

    High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)

    Your child’s healthcare provider will diagnose high blood pressure by checking your child’s blood pressure. The provider will check blood pressure over several days or weeks before making the diagnosis. Your child’s healthcare provider will also:

    • Review your child’s health history, including diet, exercise, activities, and emotional health

    • Review your family history

    • Give your child a physical exam

    Reliable blood pressure readings taken at home can be helpful in finding out if your child truly has high blood pressure. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring uses a device that can be worn for 24 hours. It takes multiple blood pressure readings and can help get a more accurate reading of overall blood pressure.

    Your child’s provider may also order tests. These may include:

    • Electrocardiogram , to check your child’s heart rhythm

    • Echocardiogram , to check your child’s heart anatomy and function as well as any narrowing of the aorta

    • Blood tests

    • Urine tests

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    What Problems Can It Cause

    All types of high blood pressure, including isolated systolic hypertension, can slowly damage the inside of your arteries and cause tiny tears in their walls. A chemical called LDL cholesterol can build up in those damaged blood vessels and form a layer called plaque. That makes your arteries narrower and raises your blood pressure even higher.

    When that happens, the arteries that carry oxygen to your heart can get blocked, and that can lead to a heart attack or a stroke . It also can make blood vessels in your brain burst, and that can cause a stroke, too.

    In other parts of your body, it can strain the blood vessels in your eyes and make you lose your eyesight or damage the arteries around your kidneys so they donât filter your blood the way they should.

    Who Gets Isolated Systolic Hypertension

    Older people are more likely to have it, because systolic blood pressure usually goes up as you age.

    • More than 30% of women over 65 and more than 20% of men have this condition.
    • If your parents had high blood pressure, you may be more likely to have it.
    • African-Americans are more likely than other groups to have high blood pressure.

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    How To Manage High Diastolic Blood Pressure

    1. Lifestyle Changes

    If you have hypertension or prehypertension, it is advisable to implement the following lifestyle changes:

    • Do not smoke
    • Adjust to healthy diet fresh vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy products and low salt intake
    • Sustain healthy weight
    • Exercise regularly at least 30 minutes of moderate activity every day

    2. Medications

    The doctor might prescribe the following medications:

    • Diuretics

    These are water pills that flush out excess sodium and water from your body and lower your blood pressure. One option is thiazide since it has minimal side effects.

    • Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors

    They make blood vessels widen. This is done by inhibiting the formation of angiotensin hormone.

    • Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers

    Medicines For High Blood Pressure

    What Causes High Diastolic Blood Pressure?
    Why are different people given different medicines?

    People respond differently to blood pressure medicines. A number of things can affect how you respond to each medicine, including your ethnic background, age and how much salt you eat. It can take some trial and error to find the medicine or combination of medicines that works best for you.

    Younger, non-black people tend to respond slightly better to ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers. Older people and those of African or Caribbean origin tend to respond better to calcium-channel blockers and thiazide diuretics.

    These will usually be the first medicines youre offered, aiming to keep the number of medicines needed to a minimum. Read more about finding the right medicines for you.

    Should I be taking aspirin as well?

    If you have high blood pressure, your doctor might recommend that you take aspirin if you are at a higher risk of heart attacks or strokes, for example, if you have had an ischaemic stroke caused by a blood clot or heart attack in the past. This is because aspirin thins your blood and prevents blood clots from forming.

    Do not start taking aspirin regularly unless your doctor advsises you to because aspirin’s ability to prevent clots can raise the risk of bleeding from the stomach and intestines, it might also be linked to a higher risk of strokes caused by burst blood vessels.

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    How Do I Know If I Have High Blood Pressure

    Theres only one way to know if you have high blood pressure: Have a doctor or other health professional measure it. Measuring your blood pressure;is quick and painless.

    Talk with your health care team about regularly measuring your blood pressure at home, also called self-measured blood pressure monitoring.

    High blood pressure is called the silent killer because it usually has no warning signs or symptoms, and many people do not know they have it.

    What Are The Different Types Of High Blood Pressure

    There are two main types of high blood pressure: primary and secondary high blood pressure.

    • Primary, or essential, high blood pressure is the most common type of high blood pressure. For most people who get this kind of blood pressure, it develops over time as you get older.
    • Secondary high blood pressure is caused by another medical condition or use of certain medicines. It usually gets better after you treat that condition or stop taking the medicines that are causing it.

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    The Prevalence Of Diastolic High Blood Pressure

    Certain studies have confirmed the concerning extent of the prevalence of IDH in the population.According to the reputed Framingham Heart Study on diastolic and systolic hypertension published in 2005 in the journal Circulation :1121-7), diastolic hypertension was found to be more prevalent in young adults of less than 40 years compared to systo-diastolic hypertension .SDH is when both systolic and diastolic blood pressure combined have values that are elevated.The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III for the period 19881991 revealed that diastolic hypertension was most prevalent in young adults of under 40 years and proportional in prevalence to systolic-diastolic hypertension among those between ages 40 to 49 years. Of those your adults, the majority were male.In addition over 75% of young adult population with untreated hypertension had IDH and ISH.The two independent studies retained similar findings on the prevalence of IDH across the population.

    Highlights Of The Study

    Beauty
    • A patient with very elevated systolic blood pressure and low diastolic blood pressure is difficult to treat if one strictly follows the guidelines, as sBP is a clear indication for antihypertensive treatment, but dBP 70 mm Hg is a relative contraindication.

    • We suggest that an adequate search and analysis ought to be performed to solve this problem.

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    Buying A Blood Pressure Instrument To Measure Your Blood Pressure At Home

    Blood pressure instruments can be purchased in most pharmacies. Buy a blood pressure instrument that has been approved by the Association for the Advancement in Medical Instrumentation , the British Hypertension Society or the International Protocol . These labels will be marked clearly on the box. If you are unsure whether an instrument is approved, ask your pharmacist for help. Once you have bought the instrument, ask your doctor or pharmacist to check it to make sure the instrument measures your blood pressure accurately.

    What Are The Treatments For High Blood Pressure

    Treatments for high blood pressure include heart-healthy lifestyle changes and medicines.

    You will work with your provider to come up with a treatment plan. It may include only the lifestyle changes. These changes, such as heart-healthy eating and exercise, can be very effective. But sometimes the changes do not control or lower your high blood pressure. Then you may need to take medicine. There are different types of blood pressure medicines. Some people need to take more than one type.

    If your high blood pressure is caused by another medical condition or medicine, treating that condition or stopping the medicine may lower your blood pressure.

    NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

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    Normal Blood Pressure For Men And Women By Age

    A normal blood pressure reading indicates that the heart and blood vessels are not working too hard pushing blood and that the blood is not exerting too much pressure on the walls of the vessels, says Aseem Desai, M.D., a cardiologist at Providence Mission Hospital in Southern California. Recent data from the American Heart Association suggests the optimal normal reading for adults over 20 is lower than 120/80 mmHgVirani S, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics 2021 update . American Heart Association Journal. 2021;143:e254-e743. .

    Dr. Desai notes blood pressure can vary depending on a persons age, gender, race and ethnicity, but it should still fall within the general normal range. While numbers lower than 120/80 are generally considered normal, Dr. Desai adds, The target blood pressure for treatment varies depending on age and associated co-morbidities .

    Previously, guidance for normal blood pressure for adults varied by gender and specific age, but new data states normal blood pressure for adults as a collective is less than 120/80 mmHgHigh Blood Pressure Symptoms and Causes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed 7/16/2021. .

    When it comes to race and ethnicity, Dr. Desai says certain groups have a higher rate of hypertension. Non-Hispanic Black people have a significantly higher rate of hypertension compared to non-Hispanic white people, and Hispanics and non-Hispanic Asians have lower rates than the first two, he says.

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