High blood pressure can damage your health in many ways.
It can seriously hurt important organs like your heart and brain.
Fortunately, you can control your blood pressure to lower your risk for serious health problems.
THE HEART
High blood pressure can harden your arteries, which decreases the flow of blood and oxygen to your heart and lead to heart disease. In addition, decreased blood flow to the heart can cause:
- Chest pain, also called angina.
- Heart failure, a condition when your heart can’t pump enough blood and oxygen to your other organs.
- Heart attack, which occurs when the blood supply to your heart is blocked and heart muscle begins to die without enough oxygen. The longer the blood flow is blocked, the greater the damage to the heart.
THE BRAIN
High blood pressure can burst or block arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the brain, causing a stroke. Brain cells die during a stroke because they do not get enough oxygen. Stroke can cause serious disabilities in speech, movement, and other basic activities, and a stroke can kill you.
THE KIDNEYS
Adults with diabetes, high blood pressure, or both have a higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease than those without these diseases. Approximately 1 of 3 adults with diabetes and 1 of 5 adults with high blood pressure have chronic kidney disease.
SEXUAL ORGANS
The combined effects of aging and uncontrolled blood pressure may cause lower sex drive, less sexual satisfaction, erectile dysfunction, and painful intercourse.
The Chronic Disease Management (CDM) Subcommittee is working to help people across Cuyahoga County improve their blood pressure. Eating right, exercising, and not smoking are tips we can all use to be healthier. The CDM subcommittee encourages you to work with your healthcare provider to check, monitor, and control your blood pressure.