Hypertension Screening Jacksonville
The American Heart Association recommends that you have your blood pressure checked every time you see your doctor. Many individuals have high blood pressure and simply don't know it. Routine hypertension screenings are important as they can provide for an early diagnosis of high blood pressure. When left untreated, hypertension can result in fatality or trigger other serious health problems such as coronary artery disease, heart attacks, renal disease and strokes. Since this is a disease that is impossible to visually detect during a routine physical examination, hypertension screenings become the number one means of identifying this silent but deadly disease.
As your heart pumps blood into the arteries, your blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the blood vessels. Prolonged hypertension is dangerous because it makes your heart work harder to circulate the blood to all parts of your body. Although the blood pressure cuff (sphygmomanometer) is a reliable medical instrument that has been used for decades, just because your test result is positive for one hypertension screening does not necessarily mean that you suffer from chronic high blood pressure. For example, a large amount of stress can be a temporary cause for an elevated reading. Your doctor will look for all possible causes of your immediate hypertension before deciding the next course of action.
Unfortunately, the underlying cause of hypertension cannot be determined in the vast majority of cases but doctors do know that high blood pressure is often influenced by age, race, lifestyle and diet. In fact, the link between the overconsumption of salt and hypertension has been well documented. In some cases, secondary hypertension can be caused by a serious illness such as kidney disease or may be directly related to medications (prescription or over-the-counter) that you may have been taking. The use of tobacco products and alcohol have also been recognized as likely causes of hypertension.
NOTE: When high blood pressure has been diagnosed by your doctor, he or she will recommend the appropriate hypertension treatments and monitor your condition through ongoing screenings.
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