Keep your blood pressure under control

Your heart is always at work pumping blood throughout your body. Narrowed arteries or damaged heart muscles can make your heart work too hard to circulate blood. Eventually, this can lead to high blood pressure and a variety of serious complications, including heart attack and stroke.

At Goshen Heart & Vascular Center, our experienced heart care team works together to treat and prevent high blood pressure.

Part of having healthy blood pressure is knowing your heart’s health status. We offer the right screenings that can help identify your risk for heart disease. Talk to your primary care provider about receiving a screening or call the Heart & Vascular Center at (574) 533-7476 to make an appointment.

What causes high blood pressure?

Primary hypertension is the most common type of high blood pressure. It develops over time and has no apparent cause, although unhealthy lifestyle habits are the main risk factors. Smoking, poor diet, sedentary lifestyle and obesity can all lead to high blood pressure.

Secondary hypertension is usually the result of an underlying condition, such as kidney problems or thyroid disease.

Risk factors for high blood pressure

Some risk factors are uncontrollable and can increase the chances of developing high blood pressure. They include:

• Age – about 65 percent of adults older than 60 have high blood pressure
• Gender, men are more likely to develop high blood pressure in middle age, while women are more likely to develop it at an older age
• A family history of high blood pressure
• African-American ethnicity

Symptoms of high blood pressure

It’s rare that someone will experience symptoms of high blood pressure, even when it’s dangerously high. Signs of high blood pressure are not usually apparent, which is why the condition is referred to as a silent disease.

The best prevention for high blood pressure is to make healthy lifestyle choices and have your blood pressure checked every two years, starting at age 20. Read our heart healthy tips to learn how you can begin protecting your heart and vascular system from high blood pressure.

Treating high blood pressure at Goshen Heart & Vascular Center

Our specialists are trained and experienced in treating both primary and secondary types of high blood pressure. When you need help lowering your risk, whether that’s help with quitting smoking, losing weight or treating an underlying condition, we can help.