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High blood pressure is commonly seen in most people these days. But do you know that it has a very
close connection with cardiovascular diseases? Read on to learn about hypertensive cardiovascular
disease.Hypertensive cardiovascular disease also known as hypertensive heart disease occurs due to the
complication of hypertension or high blood pressure. In this condition the workload of the heart is
increased manifold and with time this causes the heart muscles to thicken. The heart continues pumping
blood against this increased pressure and over a period of time the left ventricle of the heart enlarges and
this in turn causes the blood pumped by heart to reduce. If proper treatment is not taken at this stage then
symptoms of congestive heart failure may be observed.
High blood pressure or hypertension is among the top most factors associated with cardiovascular
diseases. This can result in ischemic heart disease. High blood pressure is also a contributing factor to the
eventual thickening of walls of blood vessels. This increases the possibility of heart attacks and strokes.
Hypertensive cardiovascular disease is among the leading killers in present times. Around 7 people out of
every 1000 suffer from this disease. Heredity is an important factor so far as people suffering from
hypertension are concerned. Other factors include excessive consumption of salt and excessive stress.
Symptoms
It usually takes some time for the problem of high blood pressure to eventually lead to hypertensive
cardiovascular disease and therefore high blood pressure is often called the silent killer. Eventually
hypertensive heart disease can also lead to congestive heart failure. Some symptoms of hypertension and
the eventual congestive heart failure include arrhythmias, shortness of breath, weakness and fatigue,
swelling in lower extremities and greater frequency of urination during the night. Hypertensive
cardiovascular disease may also result in ischemic heart condition and in this case there might be chest
pain, sweating and dizziness, nausea and shortness of breath. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy could also be
a result of hypertensive heart disease.
Tests
Usually the first signal is elevated blood pressure together with a possibility of enlargement of the heart.
Fluid within the lungs may also be found in preliminary examination by using the stethoscope and some
abnormal heart sounds may also be detected. ECG is ordinarily done and this may show abnormal results
in those who have possible hypertensive cardiovascular disease. Evidence of ischemia which is the lack
of oxygen in the heart muscle may also be detected. Some other tests ordinarily conducted may include a
chest X ray, a CT scan of the chest, echocardiogram and coronary angiogram.
Treatment
The primary aim of any treatment in hypertensive cardiovascular disease is reduction of blood pressure
and then eventual control of the heart disease. The line of treatment will ordinarily depend on the
condition such as whether there is angina or acute myocardial infarction. The line of treatment may
include beta blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE), calcium channel blockers,
diuretics etc depending upon particulars of each individual case. The blood pressure is consistently
Hypertension is more common and more severe in African Americans than in other population groups in
the United States, placing them at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and end-stage renal
disease. Whereas past efforts to reduce blood pressure (BP) via the diet centered on manipulating isolated
nutrients, there are now conclusive data demonstrating that it is not single dietary components but the
overall dietary pattern that has the greatest influence on BP. A nutritionally complete diet rich in fruits,
vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods has been clearly proven to significantly lower BP in all population
groups. This diet, commonly referred to as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet,
has been tested in randomized, controlled trials emphasizing African American populations and
documented the greatest beneficial effects in hypertensive African Americans. Improving diet quality has
been shown to be simply implemented without adverse effects such as symptoms of lactose maldigestion.
It is also known to beneficially affect other cardiovascular risk factors and is in keeping with dietary
recommendations for prevention of some cancers and osteoporosis. This paper reviews the current data
relating dietary patterns to BP control, and advocates dietary recommendations that can accomplish their
intended objective of enhancing the health of Americans by promoting safe, feasible, and proven-effective
means of doing so. In the case of hypertension prevention and treatment, and thus the reduction of
cardiovascular disease risk, overall diet quality should be the primary focus of nutritional
recommendations.
In search of the dietary culprit.
Diet has long been known to participate in the development of high BP, and until recently, sodium had
been considered the primary dietary cause of hypertension. Other dietary components have been
implicated as well and, though not to the extent of sodium, have been studied extensively in efforts to
assess the degree and the potential mechanisms of their influence (reviewed in 3). However, similar to
sodium, these studies have yielded inconclusive and often conflicting results, consistent only in their
inconsistency. One likely explanation for this is heterogeneity of BP responses, which is known to be a
hallmark of single-nutrient interventions; although many individuals may experience favorable BP
responses to a specific dietary manipulation such as increased calcium or decreased sodium, others may
respond negatively and still others not at all (10,11). As a result, the available data are widely varied and
often perplexing, as has been their selective use over the years in the development of national dietary
recommendations for hypertension prevention and management.
No single nutrient lowers blood pressure.
Dietary nutrients are not ingested in isolation but as combined constituents of a complete diet and
function interactively in the body and in their impact on BP regulation. Because nutrients express their
physiologic actions through integrated pathways, it is unrealistic to expect a uniform benefit in terms of
BP control from modifying the intake of a single nutrient. The concept that it is the adequate intake of
multiple nutrients consumed in combination, rather than the intake of any single nutrient, that influences
BP regulation exists throughout the nutrition literature. In 1984, based on our analysis of diet and BP from
the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey database (2), we concluded that use of the diet
for the management of high BP should emphasize consumption of a diet balanced in all the essential
nutrients.
More recently, in a cross-sectional assessment of the BP effects of various dietary micronutrients in 180
African American and Hispanic adolescents at high risk for hypertension, Falkner et al. (12) found lower
BP in those with higher dietary intakes of multiple nutrients. Noting that there were no differences in
sodium intake or weight between the study groups, these investigators concluded that diets rich in a
combination of nutrients derived from fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products could contribute to
primary prevention of hypertension when instituted at an early age.
magnesium, phosphorus), can mitigate the negative effects of high salt intake on BP in salt-sensitive
persons, including high-risk populations such as African Americans.
Nearly 25 y of research, culminating in the striking results of the DASH trials, have confirmed the direct
relationship between diet quality and BP management, and CVD risk. In addition to improvements in BP,
high-quality diets have been shown to lower coronary heart disease and stroke incidence. Adoption of a
nutrient-rich dietary pattern is associated with no side effects, can be practiced at reasonable cost and
minimal complexity, and can effectively improve multiple medical conditions within a short time period
and be sustained indefinitely. There is no single-nutrient manipulation that can confer this constellation of
benefits.
With their much higher burden in terms of hypertension and cardiovascular disease compared to whites,
African Americans could likely realize the greatest gains from improved diet quality. Although other
approaches may improve single conditions in certain individuals, emphasis on these cannot achieve what
dietary guidelines are intended to achieve; rather, this misplaced emphasis serves only to divert time,
effort, and money away from patients, healthcare providers, and taxpayers that could be directed toward
proven practices with population-wide benefits. It is incumbent on nutrition policy makers in this country
to base dietary recommendations on the strategies that have the greatest likelihood of accomplishing the
purposes for which they exist. Because of its simplicity, feasibility, safety, and clearly proven and
multiple health benefits, improved diet quality should be the focal point of lifestyle recommendations for
BP management.