Internal Medicine

Dizziness from high blood pressure

Dizziness from high blood pressure

High blood pressure is one of the most common diseases and risk factors in the western world.
About 50% of all adults have an average arterial blood pressure of over 140/90, which exceeds the limit values for high blood pressure.

Other factors such as obesity or a sedentary lifestyle increase the risk of high blood pressure many times over.

High blood pressure is one of the most important risk factors for diseases of the cardiovascular system, but also for numerous other organs. In the short term, slightly elevated blood pressure does not cause any damage and is almost always symptom-free. In the long term, however, or in so-called acute "blood pressure crises", damage to the heart, blood vessels, brain, kidneys, eyes and numerous other regions of the body can occur.

Dizziness is a rare symptom of the often symptom-free high blood pressure. However, it can indicate an acute derailment or damage that has already occurred due to chronic high blood pressure.

Why can high blood pressure make you dizzy?

Usually high blood pressure does not cause any symptoms. However, unexplained processes in the brain can lead to neurological limitations even in the case of brief elevated blood pressure values.

This is due to the high pressure in the arterial blood vessels causing the congestion of fluid and metabolites in several areas of the brain.

Typical symptoms in these cases can include dizziness, ringing in the ears, palpitations and headaches.

In the long term and in the case of severe blood pressure derailments, numerous other, sometimes serious symptoms can follow.

Read more on the subject under: High blood pressure

diagnosis

The diagnosis of high blood pressure can be made with very simple means. Since the symptoms are often negligible, the diagnosis is mainly made on the basis of a blood pressure measurement, which is recorded during exercise and over 24 hours.

With this, average values of the day, at rest and exertion, as well as a decrease in the night can be observed in order to determine the extent of the high blood pressure.

Radiological vascular examinations, ophthalmologic examinations or examinations of the abdominal organs can be carried out to diagnose consequential damage from long-term high blood pressure.

Read more on the subject under: Therapy for high blood pressure

Concomitant symptoms

In principle, an increase in blood pressure is associated with only minor symptoms.

In addition to dizziness, it can rarely occur

A headache,
Tinnitus,
Tinnitus,
Nosebleeds,
Palpitations and insomnia occur.

In the long term, damage to the heart can occur in the form of heart failure with an enlarged heart.
Life-threatening cracks or bulges in the vessel walls can occur in the blood vessels.

However, damage to the blood vessels, brain tissue and the retina in particular can occur in the brain and eyes, which can lead to strokes, visual disturbances and dementia.

In the long term, high blood pressure can damage all organs and vessels in the body, so that numerous other accompanying symptoms can result from the disease.

nausea

Nausea is a non-specific symptom, which by no means only indicates an upset stomach, but rather neurological symptoms.

Dizziness, nausea, vomiting and drowsiness are typical symptoms of a diffuse disturbance of the brain function, which can have numerous causes.

High blood pressure can trigger these symptoms, as can low blood pressure.

Symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, nosebleeds, headaches and fatigue can also occur together in severe so-called "hypertensive crises" with systolic blood pressure values above 200mmHg.

This speaks for an acute and threatening clinical picture in which high blood pressure can lead to congestion and bleeding in the brain.

fatigue

Fatigue is rather a rarity with a slightly elevated blood pressure.The opposite is often the case with high blood pressure.

Affected people are often lively, agile and have more to do with sleep disorders than fatigue.

Fatigue can, however, indicate an acute derailment of blood pressure with the start of brain damage.

The extremely high blood pressure can acutely damage the blood vessels, lead to water retention in the brain and lead to bleeding.

In addition to headaches, dizziness and nausea, fatigue, tiredness, unconsciousness and, as a result, a coma can occur.

Read more on the topic under: Dizziness, nausea and headaches

a headache

Headache is a typical symptom of high blood pressure.
If high blood pressure is not symptom-free, the main symptoms are dizziness and headaches.

This is caused by the increased pressures in the arterial cerebral vessels, which lead to slight fluid deposits in the brain and irritation of the meninges.

As a rule, this is also a harmless symptom that does not require any further therapy besides lowering the blood pressure.

Acute severe pain, on the other hand, can indicate an acute emergency and an increase in blood pressure values above 200mmHg.

Numerous other symptoms join this highly acute clinical picture in the course.

Read more on the subject under: Headache

Visual disturbances

Visual disturbances are an advanced symptom of long-term damage from increased blood pressure or an acute consequence of a blood pressure derailment.

In both cases, it is an urgent warning symptom of partially severe brain damage.

The high blood pressure can cause chronic damage to the fragile blood vessels of the retina, as well as acute fluid retention and a so-called "congestive papilla".

The disease runs in different stages and in the worst case can end in blindness. First of all, the blind spot that everyone has in their field of vision increases. This can expand to greater visual field restrictions up to a complete visual impairment of one and then both eyes.

treatment

The treatment of the increased blood pressure, as well as all accompanying symptoms and secondary diseases, follows the therapy goal of permanently lowering the blood pressure to normal values.

The upper limit of the blood pressure is 140/90 mmHg, with 120 / 80mmHg being the ideal blood pressure.

In order to achieve these values, lifestyle adjustments can be sufficient in the early stages.

These include

a healthy, low-salt diet,
Weight loss,
moderate physical activity and
adequate sleep.

In more severe stages, drug therapy is used, for which many different drugs can be used alone or in combination with one another.

The therapy of neurological concomitant diseases, eye damage or damage to internal organs is also mainly carried out by lowering blood pressure. Vascular damage can also be treated symptomatically with drugs and surgery in advanced diseases.

Read more about this under: Diet for high blood pressure

Duration

It is difficult to estimate the duration of high blood pressure.

In young people and with slightly elevated blood pressure values, the blood pressure can often be successfully treated with lifestyle adjustments.

In the vast majority of cases, however, it is a chronic disease that remains permanent. About 50-75% of all adult people will suffer from persistent high blood pressure during their lifetime.

With the help of targeted, tested and long-term therapy, consequential damage can be prevented so that high blood pressure is not a risk factor for other diseases.

In old age, however, many people suffer from vascular damage and secondary diseases, some of which are attributed to high blood pressure.

Course of disease

The course of the disease is very variable and can be very different from person to person.

In the best case scenario, high blood pressure can be controlled through a healthy lifestyle or well-adjusted drug therapy in such a way that no secondary diseases or damage to organs of the body arise.

If this is not the case, however, damage to blood vessels, the brain, eyes, kidneys, heart and lungs of varying degrees can occur over decades.

Serious illnesses can result from this over the years.

Acute, life-threatening crises of high blood pressure with greatly increased values can rarely occur, which can cause acute damage to the brain and other organs.

Thus, high blood pressure is a very variable disease that is symptom-free for most of the time, but in the course of time it leads to acute, serious health-damaging events, but above all to chronic long-term damage to vital organs.