Hypertension causes silent damage if treatment is ignored: Experts

Panaji: As hypertension doesn’t often produce any symptoms, many tend to ignore regular blood pressure (BP) checks, unaware of the silent damage high BP can cause to the heart, brain, eyes and kidneys, say experts.

What’s worse and commonly seen is patients discontinuing BP medication on their own.

One such case was that of a 65-year-old man with high BP and cholesterol who quit his BP tablets for a month and returned with a stroke. “He presented with partial paralysis of the right side of the body after he developed a clot in the brain. He knew he had BP but stopped his medication due to ignorance,” said Dr Vinayak Bhat, consultant physician at JMJ and RG Stone Hospital.

Luckily, as he had come on time, his partial paralysis could be reversed.

“One of the biggest misconceptions is that BP medication causes kidney failure. We see patients reluctant to take BP medication regularly and over time, when they develop kidney disease, they blame the medication for damaging their kidneys,” said Dr Bhat.

In another case, a 29-year-old banker who experienced frequent headaches attributed them to stress in meeting his targets and would pop painkillers.

When he went to the doctor, his BP was found to be 220/110 and he was prescribed medication to control this.

“Despite being educated, he took medication for one month and subsequently didn’t follow up with the doctor. Six months later, he was referred with swelling in his legs, breathlessness and loss of appetite. His creatinine was high and his kidneys were already 75% damaged. This was all caused by uncontrolled hypertension,” said Dr Shital Lengade, consultant nephrologist and transplant physician.

He was started back on medication to control his BP, given a proper diet for hypertension and kidney disease and explained the gravity of his illness and importance of BP control. “He took the advice seriously and didn’t require dialysis as his kidney function gradually began improving,” said Dr Lengade.

This is not a one-off case, he said, adding that there are many similar instances.

Hypertension and kidney disease are very closely linked and hypertension is the second most common cause of kidney disease or kidney failure across the world and in India (diabetes being no. 1), he said.

“Unfortunately, both hypertension and kidney disease are silent problems and many times detected late,” Dr Lengade said, adding that kidneys can be both the target organ involved in hypertension and also the most common reason to develop high BP.

Cardiologist Dr Antonio Rodrigues said hypertension is also a high-risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which can cause a heart attack and irreversible damage to the heart.

“Most people are asymptomatic while the damage to organs is slowly building inside,” he said.

Dr Bhat said some hypertensive people do complain of headaches, pain in back of neck, giddiness, lightheadedness, shortness of breath and non-specific chest pain; they account for only around 40% of the hypertension patients.

“Even if hypertension is detected, many don’t follow up regularly, as hypertension doesn’t produce any discomfort and then end up with complications,” he said.

Dr Legande attributed hypertension in the young to sedentary lifestyle, eating processed foods and ordering foods all with high salt content.

Doctors recommend those above the age of 35 and those younger with family history of hypertension to check their BP every six months and in the case of hypertension check kidney function.