Living With Renal Hypertension
Renal hypertension is defined by medical experts as, high blood pressure caused by the narrowing of the arteries that carry blood to the kidneys. It is also considered to be a form of secondary hypertension, which is high blood pressure as a result of other conditions like tumors or kidney disease.
History
Before the modern age of medicine, renal hypertension was often referred to as uremic poisoning. Uremia was the term used to describe the contamination of the blood with the urine. Around the mid 1850's this term was used to describe reduced urine output that was thought to be caused by urine mixing with the blood instead of being voided through the urethra. The term uremia is today used loosely to describe the illness accompanying kidney failure.
Diagnosis
Renal hypertension can be diagnosed by using digital image processing of radiographs. Different forms of treatment may include angioplasty and stenting of the renal arteries. When the kidneys malfunction and do not operate at 100%, other problems can be encountered like abnormal fluid levels in the body and, in the long term, anemia.
High Blood Pressure
Your heart works incredibly hard 24 hours a day to keep you alive, pumping more than 2,000 gallons of blood through your veins and blood vessels, beating over 100,000 times per day to force the blood through your body. This is how blood pressure is maintained. The American Heart Association states that normal blood pressure in a normal person should be around 120/80.
The tricky thing about high blood pressure is that it causes no symptoms. You may occasionally develop a slight headache but that might be caused by any number of things
Contributing Factors
Persistent renal hypertension is one of the biggest risk factors contributing to strokes and heart attacks. Being overweight and out of shape, plus drinking and smoking, put you at high odds to die young. In renal hypertension, the narrowing of the arteries causes the blood pressure to increase. In some cases, medication might be required to reduce the swelling of the arteries, thus allowing increased blood flow to the kidneys.
Another related problem is that when the kidneys are not receiving enough blood they respond by giving off hormones that tell your body to retain salt and water, which can escalate your blood pressure very quickly.
Monitoring the Situation
Once it is established that you suffer from renal hypertension, a life goal should be established, to lower your blood pressure, with your doctor and by yourself. To monitor your progress and effectively identify periods of the day when you might need help, you should purchase a home blood pressure kit and check your blood pressure every hour. Continue to chart on an hourly, weekly, and monthly basis and you might be surprised what you see.
