Hypertensive Heart Disease: Heart Overexertion

Hypertensive heart disease is a group of conditions linked to high blood pressure-coronary artery disease, heart failure, and an enlarged heart due to overexertion from constricted or hardened blood vessels.

High blood pressure makes the heart pump harder and can cause the heart muscle to thicken the heart's walls, thus causing hypertensive heart disease (HHD). The harder the heart has to pump to circulate blood around the body, the heart becomes prematurely worn and can develop problems. That is when congestive heart failure or cardiac arrest may occur.

HHD can not only be caused by high blood pressure, but it can also lead to heart disease, stroke, thickened blood vessels, and heart attack. It can also cause sudden death.

HHD treatments include exercise, dieting, and weight loss. Some pharmaceutical and over-the-counter medication can also help treat symptoms of the disease, including:

• Beta blockers


• Diuretics


• Calcium channel blockers


• Angiotensin II receptor antagonists


• ACE (angioensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors

Intravenous drugs may be given if hypertension is severe enough.

Here's some important HHD information: a low-cholesterol diet, regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco are some of the easiest ways to cut down your risk of developing hypertensive heart disease.

Other risk factors for HHD include smoking, excessive alcohol use, obesity, and a family history of the disease. Your risk also increases after the age of 50.

Checking your blood pressure often, reducing sodium intake, and carefully controlling pre-existing conditions like diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and other diseases that can affect your blood flow.

Also, eating a diet rich in whole grains, poultry, fish, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products can also help.

Symptoms of HHD include:

• Shortness of breath


• Fatigue


• Irregular pulse


• Weight gain


• Nausea


• Bloating


• Swelling of feet


• Chest pain


• Dizziness


• Sweating

The prognosis for HHD depends on how enlarged the left ventricle has become due to overexertion. However, several studies have shown that current treatments can reverse hypertension if the disease is noticed early enough.