Smoking raises your blood pressure in the short term and over a long period of time, putting both young and old smokers at high risk of developing hypertension (high blood pressure), compared to those who do not smoke.

A longitudinal study of nearly 29,000 people, ages 36 to 80 found that smoking not only raises blood pressure over time, but also puts you at higher risk of developing atherosclerosis, a chronic, progressive disease in which plaques build up in the walls of arteries. The study cites smoking as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease.1

Smoking activates your sympathetic nervous system, which releases chemicals that swiftly increase blood pressure. Long-term smoking contributes to the development of chronic hypertension by accelerating arterial aging, or how quickly the arteries become damaged.

Effects of Smoking on Your Cardiovascular System 

Cigarette smoking is a major preventable cause of premature cardiovascular disease, with the risk particularly high in people with hypertension. Cigarette smoking increases the likelihood of having a heart attack or stroke because it adds to the damage done to the blood vessels by high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels.

Chronic smoking also stiffens the arteries making them less flexible as blood passes through them. As a result the body has to work harder to move blood through the body in cigarette smokers.2

Smoking is also particularly dangerous in those with high blood pressure because cigarette smoke damages the kidneys and increases the likelihood of experiencing severe blood pressure spikes called malignant hypertension or a hypertensive emergency.

Malignant hypertension occurs when your blood pressure is at or over 180/120 mmHg.3 At this level, organ damage can occur, therefore malignant hypertension is an emergency and should be treated immediately by a healthcare professional. 

Nicotine, the addictive chemical found in combustible cigarettes and other tobacco products, has been found to acutely increase blood pressure through its effects on the sympathetic nervous system.4 Therefore all people, especially those who already have hypertension, should quit smoking as soon as possible.

Many people, including cigarette smokers, are unaware that they have high blood pressure because the symptoms are nonspecific and therefore can be attributed to many other medical conditions.

Dangers of High Blood Pressure

As previously mentioned, high blood pressure puts you at higher risk of developing:

• Malignant hypertension
• Essential hypertension
• Kidney disease
• Heart attack
• Stroke

Other complications include:

• Metabolic syndrome
• Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease
• Sexual dysfunction
• Peripheral artery disease

If you experience any symptoms of high blood pressure, call 911 or visit the nearest emergency hospital right away to help avoid these life-altering and sometimes fatal complications. 

Does Quitting Smoking Lower Blood Pressure?

Quitting smoking along with making small changes to your habits like eating a low sodium diet, getting regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, and limiting alcohol intake can lower your blood pressure by 10 to 20 mmHG or more.

Quitting earlier is best to avoid irreversible damage to our blood vessels but even if you are a longtime smoker it is never too late to quit. Smoking also increases your risk of other conditions like lung cancer, COPD, and emphysema so the health benefits of quitting are enormous.

In the United States, the estimated number of tobacco smokers has dropped, as a result of tobacco-control efforts, from 45.1 million smokers in 2005 to 36.5 million smokers in 2017.6 That number is expected to continue to drop although the rise in use of smokeless tobacco has caused some opposition.

Prevention

The most effective way to prevent hypertension is to eliminate unhealthy habits like smoking. Not only does smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke raise your blood pressure, but it also puts you at a higher risk for heart attack and stroke. The only way to be sure that you are not being negatively impacted by smoking is to avoid it altogether.

Although much progress has been made, far too many young people use tobacco. Even more troubling, the rates of decline for smokeless tobacco have stalled or risen as of late. This is of particular concern because nicotine addiction can prolong tobacco use and lead to severe health complications.

As a result, the medical and public health communities cannot emphasize enough the importance of discouraging all forms of tobacco use in young people. 

A Word From Verywell

Oftentimes there are no obvious symptoms of hypertension hence why it is often called a silent killer, underscoring the importance of knowing your risk factors for developing hypertension and adopting a healthy positive routine that includes healthy eating and exercise.

Taking high blood pressure seriously and following your doctor’s treatment recommendations can lower your risk of serious complications and make a big difference in your overall health. 

Hypertension can impact anyone and it is not always the result of unhealthy habits like cigarette smoking. If you experience high blood pressure symptoms, contact a healthcare professional immediately. While there is no cure for hypertension, most causes can be managed effectively through lifestyle changes and medication, when needed. 

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Source – https://www.themonitor.com/

By: Samuel K Snyder, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Chief of Endocrine Surgery, DHR Diabetes and Endocrinology Institute

If this test result has occurred outside the hospital through your doctor’s office, there is a high likelihood that you have parathyroid gland disease. There are several causes of hypercalcemia, but the most common one is primary hyperparathyroidism. Four small pea-size parathyroid glands make parathyroid hormone, which controls the blood calcium level. “Para” means “next to” and that is what parathyroid glands are anatomically. They are typically located on the backside of the thyroid gland, 2 on each side, upper and lower parathyroid glands. Parathyroid hormone increases the blood calcium by removing calcium from bone, increasing calcium absorption from the intestine, and reducing calcium excretion in the kidneys. If the blood calcium is elevated, then the parathyroid hormone level should be appropriately low. When an individual has primary hyperparathyroidism, the parathyroid hormone level is inappropriately elevated or high normal in the face of elevated blood calcium. If the first check of the blood parathyroid hormone level is inappropriately high, then the diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism is established.

The cause of primary hyperparathyroidism is unknown, but individuals with this disease invariably have low blood vitamin-D levels. Vitamin-D helps with absorption of calcium from the intestine, so a deficiency of it can lead to relatively low blood calcium that requires more parathyroid hormone secretion to keep the calcium normal. Individuals with low vitamin-D levels frequently have elevated parathyroid hormone levels. Correcting this deficiency can lower the parathyroid hormone level to normal, if the blood calcium is also normal. Vitamin-D deficiency is very prevalent in the Rio Grande Valley so it is wise to check the vitamin-D blood level, particularly with primary hyperparathyroidism.

Primary hyperparathyroidism is typically caused by a single benign parathyroid tumor in 1 of the 4 glands. The tumor secretes excessive parathyroid hormone. This can lead to complications over time with high urine calcium, causing kidney stones/damage or leaching of calcium from bones to cause osteoporosis. Calcium is important for normal nerve and muscle function, so patients with high calcium may have symptoms of fatigue, or difficulty with memory and concentration. The location of the parathyroid tumor can be determined by neck ultrasound, a nuclear medicine scan with technetium sestamibi that gets picked up by a parathyroid tumor preferentially, or a special 4D-CT x-ray with timed intravenous contrast to localize the hypervascular parathyroid tumor.

Once the location of the parathyroid tumor is determined, a minimally-invasive approach to parathyroid surgery can be used. Technetium sestamibi can be injected just prior to surgery to allow using a Geiger counter device to guide surgery. The half-life of parathyroid hormone is 3 to 5 minutes. The parathyroid hormone blood level is checked 5 and 10 minutes after removing the parathyroid tumor. A marked reduction in the parathyroid hormone level confirms that the primary hyperparathyroidism is corrected and surgery can be minimized and done as an outpatient procedure. Options to surgery include just monitoring the severity of the disease or when the risk of surgery is high, giving calcimimetic medication to try to reduce the parathyroid hormone level.

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There are millions living with HIV and researchers have been working towards making a successful vaccine against the deadly infection for the past 35 years with no success. Now a new blueprint is being developed to prevent the infection.

A team of researchers from Duke University and Harvard have worked towards making a vaccine that can imitate a rare process in the immune system that is seen in persons with HIV. This process can help reduce the viral load of the body, explain the researchers.

The study results were published in the latest issue of the journal Science.

Researchers warn that this may be the first step in the development of an effective vaccine against the infection and there may be many bridges to cross before the final vaccine is ready for human use and is tried in large scale clinical trials.

Barton Haynes, director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, who was the lead author of the study said in a statement, “For the first 20 years after the virus was discovered, the field tried to make a vaccine using the techniques that all the successful measles, mumps, rubella, polio vaccines had been made within the past. And none of those worked.” He explained that the virus is constantly changing and thus every vaccine developed failed to generate antibodies that could fight the infection off.

The researchers explained in their work that in around 20 percent of the persons infected with HIV, the immune system makes a special protein called “broadly neutralizing antibodies” (bnAbs). These antibodies are powerful enough to remove the viruses in regions that remain same despite mutations. This means that the HIV may mutate but the antibodies would still be able to attack and remove them and not allow the viruses to replicate. These antibodies cannot cure a person with HIV however because some reservoirs of viruses remain within certain cells where the antibodies fail to reach them.

There have been studies where animal models of HIV have been injected with these antibodies and results showed that new infections could be prevented by these injections. This protection however did not last and was too short lived explain the researchers. To make an effective vaccine the researchers needed a shot that would provide long term protection from HIV infection.

Thus for this new study the team used technology of computer modelling and followed it up with lab testing to see if the mice and monkeys could train their immune systems to create these antibodies and fight off the infection. Haynes said, “We show a new way to design the HIV vaccine to guide the broadly neutralizing antibodies to go down paths they rarely go down on their own.”

They wrote that they “hypothesized that vaccination with immunogens that bind with moderate to high affinity to bnAb B cell precursors, and with higher affinity to precursors that have acquired improbable mutations, could initiate bnAb B cell lineages and select for key improbable mutations required for bnAb development.” They wrote in their results section, “…our immunogens elicited antibody responses in macaques and knock-in mice that exhibited the mutational patterns, structural characteristics, or neutralization profiles of nascent broadly neutralizing antibodies.”

They first designed HIV-1 envelope immunogens (moieties that could mimic the cover of an HIV-1 virus and stimulate the immune response). These immunogens were bound to bound precursor B cells at the CD4 binding site or else at the V3-glycan bnAb lineage. They then vaccinated lab macaques with the CD4 bound antibodies, They also used genetically modified mice called “knock in mice”. These mice had genes to secrete the needed bnAb. From these mice the isolated bnAbs were found to neutralize the HIV-1 global isolates. These bnAbs were found to kill the HIV-1 isolates despite their mutations, the team noted.

Other experts have lauded this approach saying that the body would be the best manufacturer of the antibodies that could fight off the HIV infection. This work is one third completed with development of essential antibodies that could fight off the infection. They hope to soon have the tools for an effective HIV vaccine.

The team wrote in conclusion, “…this study demonstrates a rational strategy for sequential immunogen design to circumvent the difficult roadblocks in HIV-1 bnAb induction by vaccination…This strategy of selection of specific antibody nucleotides by immunogen design can be applied to B cell lineages targeting other pathogens where guided affinity maturation is needed for a protective antibody response.”

Dr. John Mascola, director of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in a statement said that this new vaccine could be 80 to 90 percent effective and estimates that it would be ready for trials in large clinical trials in another five years.

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The Wistar Institute was awarded two major grants totaling more than $12 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, to fund an international multidisciplinary clinical research consortium spearheaded by Wistar’s HIV Research Program. The consortium, including several partner institutions in the U.S. and abroad, will investigate the impact of opioid use disorder (OUD) and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUDs) on immune recovery in response to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in HIV-infected people.

Both HIV infection and chronic opioid exposure are associated with immune activation, which leads to T-cell depletion and progression to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

OUD is commonly treated with drugs that either activate (agonists) or block (antagonists) the opioid receptor. “Yet, we have a very limited understanding of how the medications we use to treat OUD impact disease progression and the response to ART in people living with HIV,” commented Montaner.

The overarching goal of this research is to investigate the role of opioid receptor involvement in modulating the levels of immune activation, and the effects of different classes of MOUDs, in people living with HIV. Effectively controlling immune activation after ART in persons taking MOUDS can directly impact health and mortality.

The NIDA support of this initiative will fund two clinical studies:

• The first grant provides $8,373,891 over five years for an international trial conducted among the U.S., Vietnam and France, in collaboration with the Vietnam Ministry of Health, the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the Institute of Applied Medicine and Epidemiology (a French-led initiative to expand access to HIV/hepatitis prevention and treatment services), and the Pasteur Institute.

  The goal of this three-arm randomized trial, conducted in Vietnam and co-led by Montaner and David Metzger, Ph.D., a research professor and director of the HIV Prevention Research Division at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, is to evaluate the impact of long-term opioid receptor stimulation or blockage with MOUDs on immune reconstitution in HIV-infected people who inject drugs and are initiating ART. Early preliminary data suggest that chronic opioid receptor engagement by an opioid receptor agonist while on ART may result in increased immune activation and inflammation associated with increased levels of persistent HIV, when compared to a full opioid receptor antagonist. To verify this hypothesis, the study will assess recovery outcomes and adherence to therapy 48 weeks after initiation of ART in 225 participants with OUD who receive either methadone (opioid receptor agonist), extended-release naltrexone (antagonist) or buprenorphine (partial agonist).

• A second, complementary grant will provide $3,889,138 over five years for mechanistic studies on local persons living with HIV on ART and taking MOUDs. Collaborators on this research are the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Jonathan Lax Treatment Center, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The study will assess the preliminary observation that greater myeloid activation and HIV persistence are present in people receiving opioid receptor agonists when compared to people treated with opioid receptor antagonist naltrexone.

  Blood and tissue samples from individuals living with HIV who are receiving ART and treatment with different MOUDs will be used to study the mechanisms that regulate persistent immune activation and residual HIV expression.

“We expect the results of this major collaborative effort, which has its hub in Philadelphia, to have broad clinical implications in informing the best pharmacologic strategy for the management of opioid use disease in HIV-infected people starting ART,” said Montaner. “This is directly relevant in light of the opioid epidemic ongoing in our nation and will help ensure that the right medications are used for both HIV and OUD, with the ultimate objective of saving lives in the future.”

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In a follow-up study conducted in South Africa, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have evidence that hospital emergency departments (EDs) worldwide may be key strategic settings for curbing the spread of HIV infections in hard-to-reach populations if the EDs jump-start treatment and case management as well as diagnosis of the disease. A report on the findings was published in August in EClinicalMedicine.

“In South Africa and in many other areas of the world, one of the major reasons HIV is spreading is because young men in particular are not virally suppressed, not taking their medication or are unaware of their diagnosis,” says Bhakti Hansoti, M.B.Ch.B., Ph.D. M.P.H., , associate professor of emergency medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and lead author of the research paper. She adds that young men are more likely to go to an ED for trauma or violence-related injuries than other clinical settings, and may not have a primary health care provider—making the ED the only point of entry for health care in general.

Building on a 2018 study of ED patients in South Africa that found that HIV testing in emergency departments is an effective way to identify and diagnose otherwise hard-to-reach people with HIV, the Johns Hopkins Medicine investigators worked with colleagues in three hospital EDs in East London, Mthatha and Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, the country with the world’s largest number of recorded HIV infections.

Nearly 38 million people around the world are currently living with HIV, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). About 20% of people who have HIV live in South Africa. To end the HIV/AIDS epidemic, UNAIDS established treatment targets for 90% of all people with HIV around the world to know their HIV status by 2020, for 90% of those diagnosed to be on HIV treatment known as antiretroviral therapy (ART), and for 90% of all people receiving ART to have undetectable HIV levels in their blood and, therefore, be unable to transmit the virus to others.

“We already know that HIV testing in the ED is critical to achieving these targets, but testing alone is just not going to cut it,” says Hansoti. “Testing alone will help us reach that first 90% goal, but to get to the second and third 90%, we believe EDs need to play an active role in treatment initiation.” EDs also must initiate follow-up case management and link patients to care outside of the ED, the researchers say.

For the new study, conducted between June 2017 and July 2018, the researchers tested 2,901 male and female patients between the ages of 18 and 70 for HIV in the three EDs. More than 800 (28%) tested HIV positive, of whom 234 (28.9%) were newly diagnosed. The prevalence of HIV in the ED-tested population was significantly higher in women (35.3%) compared to men (20.7%)—with women ages 36-45 having the highest prevalence (almost 65%) compared with other age groups.

Of all the HIV patients tested for ART, only 54% tested positive for the presence of ART, and 49% of those on ART were found to be virally suppressed. This is significantly below the 90-90-90 targets. While women were more likely to have HIV, the researchers found that men were twice as likely to be unaware of their HIV status and, therefore, also less likely to be on ART and virally suppressed—and therefore more infectious to their sex partners. The researchers consider young men, in particular, to be “drivers of the HIV epidemic” in South Africa.

The researchers say their findings suggest that EDs around the world should not only implement routine HIV testing to find often-missed patients but also train physicians and nurses to start patients on ART and provide post-test counselling.

“Patients can be tested for HIV while waiting in the emergency department and then, if positive, be counseled and offered treatment or, at the least, followed up in a specialized HIV care facility,” Hansoti says.

The research team noted the challenges in implementing HIV care services in the ED, including the high volume of patients, and provider hesitation to start patients on ART due to possible comorbidities and liabilities.

Still, the researchers believe these initiatives are needed to curb the HIV epidemic. “Our research shows there are many patients with HIV in the emergency department who are untreated, undertreated and undiagnosed,” Hansoti says.

The researchers say they also plan to explore HIV care strategies best suited to the ED.

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The Madras High Court has ordered the Tamil Nadu government to give Rs. 25 lakh as compensation to a woman from Sattur in Virudhunagar, who has transfused with HIV-positive blood at a government hospital. This is in addition to a previous order from the High Court which directed authorities to construct a house and provide a permanent job for the victim.

In December 2018, the 23-year-old pregnant woman had undergone a blood transfusion at the Sattur government hospital, only to discover that the donated blood carried the HIV virus. It was alleged that the blood bank staff failed to properly screen the donated blood. Following this, multiple public interest litigations (PILs) were filed in court demanding compensation for the victim’s physical and mental trauma. The order was finally passed by a division bench of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice SS Sundar. A batch of three cases related to the issue were clubbed together by the court.

In their order, the judges said, “The State shall pay a sum of Rs.25 lakhs by way of compensation to the victim, Tmt.Muthu. Out of the said sum of Rs.25 lakhs, a sum of Rs.10 lakhs shall be deposited in an interest bearing fixed deposit for a period of three years in any Nationalised bank in the name of the victim. The remaining sum of Rs.15 lakha shall be deposited in the joint name of her two minor children and the said sum will be in fixed deposit till the minors attain majority. The victim is entitled to withdraw interest accrued only out of the amount deposited in her account.”

The court then reiterated its previous order from April 2019, and directed the government to allocate additional funds to construct a house for the victim.

The court further set guidelines for recruitment of blood bank employees and for tests conducted on samples.

“All the posts, particularly, the post of Counselor, Lab Technicians, Blood Bank Technicians, Supervisors and Staff Nurses shall be filled up by TANSACS or SBTC in connection with Blood Banks, and AIDS Control programme in the State shall be filled up by following the recruitment process recommended by NACO, particularly, with regard to the educational qualification and other eligibility criteria,” ordered the bench.

In addition to this, the government has been directed to constitute an expert body for the purpose of evolving a foolproof mechanism/procedure to collect, test and preserve blood units. This is to prevent recurrence of transfusion of infected blood at private and government hospitals in the future.

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Anti-aging as commerce is a steadily growing industry. It is estimated that by 2024, the anti-aging business market will be worth $271 billion.

Most people know that products that purport to halt or reverse aging don’t work or only provide minimal aesthetic improvement. However, that doesn’t stop them from seeking out ever more radical procedures.

In 2016, a company called Ambrosia was launched that uses the blood of the young in a transfusion process to slow aging. The FDA says there is no no evidence that the procedure works.

Numerous science experts and researchers, some of whom had their research used by Ambrosia to further its practices, warn the public that the company’s methods are dangerous.

Nevertheless, Ambrosia now offers the procedure in five American cities and may expand operations depending on demand.
Promises of youth

Ambrosia was launched by Jesse Karmazin. Karmazin is a Stanford Medical School graduate but is not licensed to act as a medical practitioner. Ambrosia offers its youth rejuvenating services via transfusion as an “off-label” medical treatment, meaning that it is an unapproved treatment procedure.

Ambrosia transfuses the blood of people aged 16 to 25 into its customers on the idea that the blood of the young will rejuvenate the internal organs of older people. The company charges $8,000 for one-liter blood transfusions and $12,000 for two-liter transfusions.

Ambrosia conducted clinical trials in 2017 but has yet to share its findings. The company’s product is based on Stanford University research and a 150-year procedure called parabiosis.

The procedure has never been proven to reverse ageing. The recent research conducted on it was to search for treatments for various medical conditions, not anti-aging cures.

The researchers whose work Ambrosia built upon have made public warnings that its anti-aging procedures may be life threatening. They can cause issues with immunity, mismatched transfused blood cells can attack the patient’s cells, and other problems.

The FDA released a public warning about Ambrosia’s procedures without naming the company. Ambrosia halted operations for a few weeks earlier this year but is now operating in San Francisco, California and Tampa, Florida.

The company claims to be operating in Los Angeles, Omaha, and Houston. Ambrosia has reportedly infused over 150 people, aged between 35 ad 92, with the blood of the young.

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High blood pressure is a condition that often happens with age and a person is deemed to have high blood pressure when they have a top reading (systolic pressure) higher than 140 and a bottom reading (diastolic pressure) higher than 90. You are more at risk of developing high blood pressure if you are overweight, have a family history of high blood pressure, are a heavy drinker, or have a poor diet and do no exercise. If left untreated, high blood pressure causes damage to the heart, arteries and kidneys, which further puts you at risk of possible sudden death from a stroke and heart attack.

If you have felt a strange numbing feeling or a slight paralysis, it is a major sign of high blood pressure and should not be ignored as it could be a sign you are at risk of having a stroke.

People have described a feeling of being paralysed on one side of their body or a complete numbness. This sudden numbness is a serious medical problem and is due to the disruption of blood flow to a part of the brain due to a lack of oxygen.

Blood pressure UK and The Stroke Association recommend using the FAST test to check whether you are having a stroke:

F – Facial weakness

Check if the person is smiling or if their mouth or eyes have drooped. Has the face fallen to one side.

A – Arm weakness

Can the arms be raised and can they stay there.

S – Speech problems

Is the speech slurred, can they understand what is being said and are they speaking clearly.

T – Time

Call 999 if any of these signs are detected.

Uncontrolled high blood pressure caused damage to blood vessels to the brain by becoming more narrow.

Over time, this raises the risk of a blood vessel bursting or being blocked. If blood cannot carry energy and oxygen to part of the brain due to this blocked or burst blood vessel, some cells in the brain may be damaged or even die.

This is known as a stroke and could lead to a permanent disability or even death.

It’s imperative to measure your blood pressure consistently and be aware of the major signs and symptoms of high blood pressure which include:

• Severe headaches
• Confusion and fatigue
• Vision problems
• Chest pain
• Irregular heartbeat
• Blood in urine
• Difficulty breathing

The NHS said: “The only way of knowing whether you have high blood pressure is to have a blood pressure test.

“All adults over 40 are advised to have their blood pressure checked at least every five years and getting this done is easy and could save your life.”

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High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a long-term medical condition which involves the blood pressure in the arteries which becomes persistently elevated. The symptoms of having high blood pressure are not obvious and if left untreated it puts a person at high risk of developing coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure, vision loss, chronic kidney disease and dementia. A person’s evening toilet habit could be a sign of the condition and frequent trips to the loo at night could mean you are at risk of having high blood pressure. Needing to urinate at night every now and then should not be a cause for concern but if you are going to the loo every night, this could be a major sign of high blood pressure.

A study in Japan looked at 1,882 people who had an annual health check that included blood pressure measurements. Of the 1,882 participants 1,295 got up to pee at least once a night on average.

Researchers from the division of hypertension in Tohuku Rosai Hospital evaluated the association between high blood pressure and nocturia, a condition that causes frequent urinating at night.

This is compared to those who slept all night without going to the bathroom and those who got up to urinate at least once per night and were 1.4 times more likely to have high blood pressure.

Doctor Satoshi Konno of the division of hypertension at the Tohoku Rosai Hospital said: “Our study indicates that if you need to urinate in the night, called nocturia, you may have elevated blood pressure or excess fluid in your body.

“If you continue to have nocturia, ask your doctor to check your blood pressure and salt intake.”

The frequent need to go to the toilet at night not only disturbs one’s sleeping pattern but could also be a sign of a serious health condition.

Researchers believe the connection between getting up to urinate at night and high blood pressure is down to the dietary salt intake and previous studies have shown a diet high in salt is associated with having to urinate more at night.

There is a strong link between salt in the diet and high blood pressure.

Cutting back the salt intake in your diet could help lower your blood pressure, put you less at risk of developing serious health conditions and ensures a better night’s sleep. Foods such as ham, sausage, bacon, ancovies and pizza have a very high salt intake and you should try to avoid these types of foods.

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High blood pressure (also known as hypertension) is a common condition that can silently damage your body over time. One of the most serious complications is the thickening of the heart wall, especially the left side, known medically as left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Understanding this risk, and how to prevent it, is crucial for anyone living with or at risk for high blood pressure.

What Is High Blood Pressure?

Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. A reading of 120/80 mmHg is considered normal. High blood pressure is usually defined as a reading consistently above 130/80 mmHg.

• Primary (essential) hypertension: No specific cause; related to genetics, lifestyle.
• Secondary hypertension: Caused by another condition (e.g., kidney disease, hormonal disorders).

Hypertension often has no symptoms, which is why it’s called the “silent killer.”

How Does High Blood Pressure Thicken the Heart Wall?

Your heart is a muscle that pumps blood. When blood pressure is high, your heart has to work harder to pump blood to your body. Over time, just like lifting heavy weights makes arm muscles bigger, this extra work causes the wall of the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) to thicken. This is called left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).

Why Is a Thickened Heart Wall Bad?

• Reduced pumping efficiency: The thickened muscle can become stiff and less able to fill with blood.
• Oxygen demand: A bigger heart muscle needs more oxygen, increasing the risk of angina (chest pain) and heart attacks.
• Electrical problems: Thickened muscle can disrupt the heart’s electrical system, causing arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats).
• Increased risk: People with LVH have a higher risk of heart failure, stroke, and sudden cardiac death.

Symptoms to Watch For

Many people have no symptoms at all, even with a thickened heart wall. If symptoms do develop, they may include:

• Shortness of breath, especially with activity
• Chest pain or pressure
• Irregular or rapid heartbeat (palpitations)
• Dizziness or fainting
• Fatigue, weakness

Note: These symptoms may signal advanced disease. Most people do not feel anything until the condition is serious.

How Is Heart Wall Thickening Diagnosed?

• Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG): May show changes suggesting LVH.
• Echocardiogram (Heart Ultrasound): The best test. It measures the thickness of the heart walls and how well the heart pumps.
• MRI: Rarely used, but can give very detailed images.
• Routine check-ups: People with high blood pressure should have regular check-ups to monitor for complications.

Who Is Most at Risk?

• People with uncontrolled or long-standing high blood pressure
• Older adults (risk increases with age)
• People with kidney disease
• Those with a family history of heart disease
• People who smoke, are obese, eat a high-salt diet, or are physically inactive

How Can You Prevent Heart Wall Thickening?

The best prevention is to control your blood pressure! Here’s how:

1. Lifestyle Changes

• Eat a healthy, low-salt diet (such as the DASH or Mediterranean diet)
• Exercise regularly (at least 30 minutes most days)
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Limit alcohol and avoid smoking
• Manage stress (meditation, relaxation, hobbies)

2. Take Your Medications

If prescribed, take blood pressure medicines exactly as directed. Common medications include:

• ACE inhibitors
• ARBs
• Beta-blockers
• Calcium channel blockers
• Diuretics

Do not stop your medicine without talking to your doctor!

3. Regular Check-ups

• Monitor your blood pressure at home, if recommended
• Get regular doctor visits and heart check-ups
• Report any new symptoms immediately

What Should I Do If I Have High Blood Pressure?

1. Check your blood pressure regularly.
2. Follow your doctor’s treatment plan and keep all appointments.
3. Adopt heart-healthy habits (diet, exercise, avoid smoking/alcohol).
4. Know the warning signs of heart trouble (see symptoms above).
5. Talk to your doctor about getting an echocardiogram if you have long-standing or hard-to-control hypertension.

Summary Checklist

• Check your blood pressure regularly
• Take your medicines as prescribed
• Eat a low-salt, balanced diet
• Stay physically active
• Get regular heart check-ups
• Avoid smoking and limit alcohol
• Watch for symptoms, but remember LVH is often silent

When to Call Your Doctor

Contact your healthcare provider immediately if you experience:

• Chest pain or pressure
• Severe shortness of breath
• Fainting or severe dizziness
• Palpitations or irregular heartbeat

These could be signs of serious heart complications.

Final Words

High blood pressure can silently thicken your heart wall and raise your risk of heart attack, heart failure, and stroke. But with good management, regular check-ups, and heart-healthy habits, you can dramatically lower your risk and protect your heart for years to come.

Take charge of your blood pressure — your heart will thank you!

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