When To See A Cardiologist For High Blood Pressure

What Causes High Blood Pressure

For most people, there may not be a single reason for their high blood pressure, but there is no exact reason for what causes high blood pressure. We know that your lifestyle can affect your risk. You are at higher risk if:

• Overeating of salty food.
• You dont eat enough fruit and vegetables
• You are not active enough
• You are overweight
• You drink too much alcohol.

You can help lower blood pressure and the risk of strokes and heart attacks by changing your lifestyle.

What Does Cardiology Involve

A cardiologist will review a patients medical history and carry out a physical examination.

They may check the persons weight, heart, lungs, blood pressure, and blood vessels, and carry out some tests.

An interventional cardiologist may carry out procedures such as angioplasties, stenting, valvuloplasties, congenital heart defect corrections, and coronary thrombectomies.

Early Detection And Prevention

A cardiologist can work with you to prevent high blood pressure from occurring, especially if you have pre-existing conditions, exhibit risk factors, or have a high blood pressure family history. Its critical to catch high blood pressure early on before it does too much damage. Thats why you should have it checked every two years at the absolute least and more frequently if youre over 50 or have other risk factors.

Your cardiologist may perform the following tests to check for or confirm a high blood pressure diagnosis:

• Blood pressure cuff measurements
• EKG/ECG
• Echocardiogram

Regarding preventing a high blood pressure diagnosis, your cardiologist can work with you to devise a plan for living a healthy lifestyle to thwart high blood pressure. Of course, if your high blood pressure is caused by genetics or other factors, other avenues may be discussed more in-depth. The following actions can considerably lower your risk of developing high pressure:

• Lose weight
• Eat healthier, natural foods and less processed foods
• Exercise

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When Is The Best Time To See A Cardiologist

A cardiologist is a physician who focuses on illness affecting the heart and the blood vessels. Someone who experiences heart problems or cardiovascular disease may be referred to a cardiologist. It is vital for those who have a family history of cardiovascular issues, such as high blood pressure, to get screenings by a cardiologist. Throughout their careers, cardiologists continue to develop their knowledge.

What Do Cardiologists Treat

A cardiologist is different from a cardiac surgeon a doctor who opens the chest and performs surgery on the heart. Instead, cardiologists focus on recognizing, treating, and managing the conditions that affect the heart. Patients who have signs of a heart condition see them regularly.

Some of the most common conditions cardiologists treat include:

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You Exhibit Palpitations Dizziness Or Shortness Of Breath

There are actually many reasons why you are experiencing shortness of breath. Your breathing passage, lungs, blood vessels, or even your heart might be affected. Typically, an adult weighing 70kilograms breathe 14 times a minute while at rest.

There are many causes of shortness of breath including anemia, asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, pneumothorax, inhalation injury, lung cancer, anxiety, congestive heart failure, arrhythmia, anaphylaxis, croup, rib fracture, subglottic stenosis, and many more.

Do you know that heart attack occurs without a chest pain? In fact, heart diseases dont manifest similar signs for everyone, especially in women. A heart attack may happen abruptly, but it usually results from existing heart diseases.

When To See A Doctor

If you have any of these symptoms, see a doctor immediately. You could be having a hypertensive crisis that could lead to a heart attack or stroke. You may also have another serious health condition.

Most of the time, high blood pressure doesnât cause headaches or nosebleeds. But, this can happen in a hypertensive crisis when blood pressure is above 180/120. If your blood pressure is extremely high and you have these symptoms, rest for 5 minutes and check again. If your blood pressure is still unusually high, itâs a medical emergency. Call 911.

Itâs important to remember that high blood pressure doesnât usually have symptoms. So, everyone should get it checked regularly. The American Heart Association recommends that adults with normal blood pressure should get blood pressure checked each year at routine health visits. You may also have it checked at a health resource fair or other locations in your community.

If you have high blood pressure, your doctor might recommend that you monitor it more often at home. At-home monitors may work better than store-based machines. Your doctor will also recommend making lifestyle changes along with medications to lower your blood pressure.

Untreated hypertension can lead to serious diseases, including stroke, heart disease, kidney failure and eye problems.

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So Im Not Going To Keel Over Immediately

No, not at that level. Definitely not. The other thing that we would do is look at your overall risk profile. Theres a calculator called the ASCVD risk score. And that looks at your age, gender, cholesterol level, presence of diabetes, blood pressure, whether or not youre being treated with blood pressure medications. And based on those factors, we calculate a 10-year risk for your having a cardiovascular event. If your 10-year risk is calculated to be 10 percent or greater, then we might consider instituting drug therapy. We always start out with lifestyle, however, and give that a chance.

How To Choose A High Blood Pressure Doctor

High blood pressure or hypertension is often called as a silent disease. Because one doesnt even know that he/she has the problem. It doesnt show up any signs and symptoms. Nonetheless, it damages the body and eventually can lead to problems like heart disease.

So, regular monitoring of your blood pressure is very much essential, particularly if it has ever been high ore above the normal range or if you have a family history of hypertension. As hypertension is the leading cause of heart disease, you may also need to be tested for heart disease.

Increasing or decreasing of your blood pressure may also depend upon your age, emotions, heart condition, and the medications you are using. One high blood pressure reading doesnt necessarily mean that you have the diagnosis of high blood pressure. Before you have a diagnosis for high blood pressure, you should observe at least three readings that exceed normal level.

Adults should have their blood pressure checked for every two years. If you have high blood pressure, heart disease, or cardiovascular risk factors, you might be advised to get your blood pressure tested more often. When you are diagnosed with high blood pressure, it is essential to work closely with the doctor. Regular checkups are very much essential to monitor your progress and open communication about any concerns that arise.

You should call to your high blood pressure, if you notice any of the conditions after diagnosing with high blood pressure:

• Severe anxiety

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Early Detection And Management

Evidence shows that adequate management of high blood pressure will improve your survival and decrease risk of cardiovascular disease, which may cause death or other disabling and debilitating conditions, such as stroke. Unfortunately, we often see patients too late, after the damage is already done.

An early visit to a cardiologist who can assess risk and give recommendations for heart-healthy lifestyle modifications or controlling other medical problems will definitely impact your long-term health status, quality of life and survival. The bottom line is that early detection and appropriate medical treatment of hypertension should be sought out early, especially since the condition can be such a silent one.

Risk Factors For Hypertension

Healthcare consumers should be aware of several factors that often accompany or contribute to hypertension. They include:

• Family history of heart disease

• High cholesterol

• A history of preeclampsia

• Congenital heart disease in childhood

When hypertension is appropriately treated, a person can reduce their chances of an untimely death. It is recommended that all adults over the age of 20 should regularly monitor their blood pressure.

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Reasons You Should See A Cardiologist

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. This is a troubling statistic that might make you wonder whether you should do more for your heart health. If this is the case, it might be time to see a cardiologist.

A cardiologist receives specialized training in the treatment of heart diseases and abnormalities. Lets explore 10 reasons you might need to see a cardiologist for specialized heart care.

What Is High Blood Pressure

The force of blood pushing against the blood vessel walls is known as blood pressure. Two numbers are used to represent blood pressure. When the heartbeats, the top number is the systolic pressure, and when the heart rests, the bottom number is the diastolic pressure. If the top number is greater than 140 and the bottom number is greater than 90, hypertension may be present. However, the top number is the most important because it corresponds to the highest risk of heart disease.

When your blood travels through your arteries at a higher pressure than normal, you have high blood pressure . A variety of factors can cause high blood pressure. Blood pressure that is excessively high or stays too high for an extended period might create health concerns. High blood pressure that isnt regulated puts you at risk for stroke, heart disease, heart attack, and renal failure.

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When Can It Fluctuate What Amount Of Fluctuation Is Ok

Your blood pressure will fluctuate on a daily basis: stress, sex, exercise, laughter, eating, excitement, taking medicine, suffering from an illness, doing drugs and/or but not only, as this list is longsleeping, for instance, will cause your blood pressure to fluctuate. Fluctuation is the best when it is tied towards making your blood pressure normal most of the time. For instance, while exercise acutely increases blood pressure, it will contribute towards its chronically being in a normal range. Same with sleep: it acutely makes your blood pressure lower than normal, only to make it chronically normal. Hence, so far as fluctuations contribute to chronic normal blood pressure levels, then fluctuations are okay. When they do not, however, for instance, when you have a disease, drug-habit, bad sleeping habit, and a high-stress lifebut instead, contribute towards chronically elevating or depressing your blood-pressure levels, then fluctuations become not okay.

When Guidelines Shift Like This And Suddenly A Huge Block Of People Are In A Group They Werent In Before Sometimes People Get Frustrated

People dont move guidelines science moves guidelines. And this particular group of scientists was well vetted, so they have no conflicts of interest with industry. Their objective was to review the sciencegood science, not poorly done studiesdigest it, and put together what they gleaned from that literature. So based on that, plus emerging evidence in the field, the guidelines move. And they are moving toward what appears to be tighter restrictions or lower thresholds for treatment.

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Different Types Of Cardiologists

The field of cardiology has several subspecialties, in which the cardiologist concentrates onsp ecific heart problems. A patient’s particular heart problem dictates which type of cardiologist is needed.

Some of the subspecialties of cardiology include:

• Interventional cardiologists use tubes called catheters to perform angiograms, which can indicate narrowed arteries around the heart.
• Echocardiographers interpret the images obtained by the use of sound waves. Echocardiographers are a subset of the cardiology subspecialty known as cardiac imaging specialists. These include specialists in nuclear cardiology, cardiac MRI, and cardiac CT in addition to echocardiography.
• Electrophysiologists are cardiologists who specialize in diagnosing and treating arrhythmias.
• Preventive cardiologists focus on cardiac risk and methods to reduce that risk to prevent a first or subsequent heart attack or stroke. Many hospitals across the United States have outpatient center programs dedicated to preventing cardiac events by helping patients with lifestyle issues, such as weight, exercise, or smoking. A retrospective clinical study, published in the journal Preventive Cardiology, demonstrated that patients who participated in such programs had reduced cardiac risks.

What Is Prehypertension What Can Patients Do To Minimize Risk Of Becoming Hypertensive

In terms of numbers, prehypertension is anything from 120-139 systolic or 80-89 diastolic mm Hg blood pressure. Segal is quoted saying, Prehypertension is not an illness like hypertension rather, it is a warning that illness is looming. This is due to the fact that those with prehypertension are twice as likely to develop high blood pressure than those with normal blood pressure levels. For prehypertensive individuals, lifestyle changes are required to ensure not becoming hypertensive, not medication. Some recommendations include eating a diet that is mostly composed of nutritious, whole, mostly unprocessed foods, getting at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day , ensuring you are maintaining a healthy/lean body composition by controlling your weight, moderating your alcohol consumption, getting 7-9 high quality hours of sleep most nights, cutting out recreational drug-use and controlling your stress levels .

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Risk Factors Of High Blood Pressure:

Several factors increase your risk of developing high blood pressure that you cannot control. This includes:

• Age: As you get older, the effects of unhealthy lifestyles can accumulate, and your blood pressure can increase.
• Ethnicity: People from the African-Caribbean and South Asian communities are at higher risk than others with high blood pressure.
• Family history: You are at higher risk if other family members have or have high blood pressure.
• Some people may have high blood pressure related to other conditions, such as kidney problems. For those who treat medical issues, blood pressure can become normal later.

Getting Blood Pressure Checked At A Healthcare Provider’s Office

Many people visit a healthcare provider to get their blood pressure measured regularly. These visits are usually scheduled at different times since your blood pressure keeps changing the entire day.

Checking blood pressure at different times gives your healthcare provider multiple readings. They can monitor your health in various aspects with the help of these measurements, according to the standard blood pressure guidelines. Finally, they conclude all the readings in one report.

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Is It Time For You To See A Cardiologist

Chest pain isnt the only symptom of a heart problem. Other symptoms could be early signs of heart disease. And some medical conditions can lead to heart diseaseincluding some that might surprise you.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States for women and for men. Thats why its important to stay aware of your heart health and to know your risks for heart disease.

If you have symptoms of a heart problem, or if you have a condition that puts you at risk for heart disease, you should discuss your concerns with your primary care provider . You and your PCP can decide whether its time for you to see a cardiologist.

A cardiologist is a doctor who has special training in treating people who have heart conditions. But you dont have to be sick to see a cardiologist. A cardiologist can check you for signs of heart disease, assess cardiac risk, and provide guidance to help you prevent heart disease.

What About Chronic Diseases How Can These Affect Blood Pressure

To start with low blood pressure, here are a few diseases that can literally cause low blood pressure: malnutrition, septicemia, anaphylaxis, bradycardia , heart attack, heart failure, parathyroid disease, Addisons disease, diabetes, and hypoglycemia . High blood pressure, on the other hand, can be caused by the following diseases: kidney disease, diabetes, sleep apnoea, glomerulonephritis, thyroid problems, lupus, obesity, and scleroderma.

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Do I Need To See A Cardiologist For High Blood Pressure

by Aubree Dugas | Jun 25, 2021 | Get Heart Healthy

Nearly 45% of Americans have hypertension, also known as high blood pressure. However, it is estimated that only a quarter of those has their symptoms under control. So, when should those patients see a cardiologist for their high blood pressure? Luckily for those patients with high blood pressure, there is a lot that a cardiologist can do to treat their symptoms and even prevent it in other patients. Your goal should be to find the best cardiologist near you to work with to get your symptoms under control or prevent them together.

When To Call Your Doctor About High Blood Pressure

Hypertension symptoms? Often there aren’t any. High blood pressure is often called the “silent” disease, because it may have no noticeable symptoms.

If undetected and untreated, hypertension can cause heart disease , stroke, and kidney disease. That’s why it is important to have regular physical examinations to make sure your blood pressure is within the normal range. This is especially important if your blood pressure has ever been high, if you have a family history of hypertension, or if you are gaining weight.

If you are being treated for high blood pressure, your doctor can answer any questions or concerns you may have during your regular visits. However, there may be situations that warrant a call to your doctor. For example:

• If you aren’t responding to the treatment your doctor prescribed and your blood pressure is still high
• If you have certain symptoms, including fatigue, nausea, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, headache, excessive sweating, palpitations or irregular heart beats, problems with your vision, or confusion these may be serious and should warrant prompt medical attention. They could be from uncontrolled high blood pressure or from medication side effects.

If you have any concerns about your condition, don’t hesitate to call your doctor.

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