Symptoms
Symptoms of Hypertension include:
Arteriosclerosis - is a general term describing any hardening (and loss of elasticity) of medium or large arteries. Atherosclerosis - is a condition in which an artery wall thickens as the result of a build-up of fatty materials such as cholesterol. It is a syndrome affecting arterial blood vessels, a chronic inflammatory response in the walls of arteries, in large part due to the accumulation of macrophage white blood cells and promoted by low-density lipoproteins
Fibrous tissue/fat deposits
Aneurysms
- Vessel walls give way, lumen size increases
- E.g. aortic diameter ↑from 2.5cm to 8+cm
Stroke
- High systolic pressure
- With bleeding (post aneurysm) or thrombosis (Blockage)
Left ventricular Hypertrophy (increase in mass)
- With increase of BP hear has to work harder to overcome the aortic pressure
- Increased afterload evokes
- Increased muscle mass
- IVth heart sound
Myocardial infarction
- Damage to vessel walls
Retinal damage
High blood pressure can be seen in retina
Acute
- Burst cells of retina
Chronic
- Thickened vessels in the retina, more muscle cells around arterioles
- Abnormal light reflection coming off the vessels
- May be able to see localised haemorrhage
- AV nocking, arteriole near venuole, arteriole pushes against venule, squashing the venule