Everybody knows that high blood pressure causes severe health problems form damage to arteries to strokes and chronic heart problems.
Artery Damage
All arteries should be strong, springy and elastic to move blood easily from lungs and heart to various organs and tissues. High blood pressure pushes hard on the artery walls and damages it. This forms plaque on the walls of arteries and they turn narrow.
Aneurysm
When high blood pressure pushes against the artery wall it weakens. It can break and bleed into the body which is a very serious condition. It can occur anywhere in an artery but most commonly seen in the aorta. A damaged artery can cause aneurysm even it if your BP is under control.
What’s CAD?
CAD can happen when plaque builds up in the arteries that supply to the heart. The blood flow then gets slower, giving rise to chest pain and strange heart rhythm. A total block can lead to a heart attack.
Heart Attack
As the plaque in the artery builds up or when clumps of it come loose, they completely block the artery to the heart and leads to acute heart attack. The blockage starves the heart of oxygen and nutrients. This can cause severe damage to the heart.
Peripheral Artery Disease
PAD unlike CAD, affects the blood vessels that are further away from the heart like those in the arms, legs, head and the stomach. A person may get pain or cramps in the legs, often when they walk or climb stairs. The person may feel chronic tiredness.
The pain will go away when you rest and reappear once you move, if left untreated it can cause serious problems like stroke, ulcers and loss of circulation in the legs. Finally it can even lead to amputation of a limb.
PAD can also cause heart failure, enlargement of heart, stroke, dementia, kidney damage, eye problems, sexual problems and sleep apnea.