Being overweight, drinking a lot of alcohol and not eating right contribute to high blood pressure. The person may not notice anything wrong now but in a few years, this will come in the form of a stroke that could either kill or leave anyone paralyzed.

Studies reveal that this affects more than 50 million Americans with about 30% still unaware what could happen in the future.

There are no symptoms to tell that a person has high blood pressure. Going to the doctor regularly can prevent this but those who don’t will experience things such as headaches, dizziness and nose bleeds which could already mean something is wrong.

Pain in other parts of the body is another warning of imminent danger. Other red flags are excessive sweating, frequent urination, muscle cramps or even palpitations. Should any of these happen to the person, it will be a good idea to visit a physician to find out what is the problem.

Doctors can check on the blood pressure by wrapping a machine on the upper arm, inflating the cuff and listening to the flow of blood using a stethoscope. Normal blood pressure is around 120 over 80. Should this be 140 over 90 or higher, the person has hypertension. It isn’t hard to tell one has high blood pressure given the size of the patient. This is because doctors have a standard given an individual’s gender, height and age so those who are above that are at risk of high blood pressure.

The doctor has to go through the standard operating procedure of asking some personal questions, which includes the individual’s medical history. If this runs in the family and a blood test has confirmed the suspicions of the physician, a solution can be planned before it is too late. The only way to lower the high blood pressure will be for the person to make some lifestyle changes. This usually includes eating healthy, and exercising with the objective of losing those excess pounds so the good cholesterol in the body is balanced against the bad cholesterol.

The person will also have to quit smoking and giving up the daily consumption of alcohol. Headaches lead to dizziness up to the point that some people feel nauseated or want to just faint. This can be fatigue or high blood pressure that is a warning of something bad that could happen if proper action is not taken so change must happen to make the blood pressure normal.

WHEN HEADACHE BECOMES SEVERE

Although headache is quite common to many people, experts say that people should not ignore headaches especially if they become severe. Based on medical findings, the most common symptom of severe headache is related to a migraine attack caused by the dilation of blood vessels on the brain.

Severe headache usually leads to vomiting, distorted vision, nausea, dizziness, and the like. What you can do is to take over-the-counter medication such as oral analgesics like aspirin, ibuprofen, or paracetamol can provide relief and are best if taken as soon as symptoms start to occur.

But when the headache becomes worse, make sure that you visit your health care provider because it can also be an indication of more serious illnesses like meningitis or the inflammation of the meninges or membrane around a person’s brain; sub-arachnoid haemorrhage due a bleeding in the space between the brain and the arachnoid layer of the meninges, stroke, blood pressure, brain tumor, and temporal arteritis due to the inflammation of the arteries in the scalp.

Other causes of severe headache migraine, a condition that occurs and recurs in patterns; sinusitis that is a severe pain experienced behind your cheek bones or above the bridge of your nose usually associated with a blocked nose. steam and painkillers that should relieve the symptoms but if taken in wrong dosages can lead to severe and throbbing pain, fevers that are untreated like flu, tonsillitis, chest infections and the like, neuralgia or due to the irritation of the nerve that produces pain sensation in response to outside activities, and glaucoma or other acute eye problems that most of the time lead to severe frontal headaches and deteriorating eyesight.

Heath care experts agree that using any medication should only be part of a wellness program. They also agree that successful treatment of chronic headaches should be combined approaches of medication and life-style changes like avoiding any listed headache triggers, personal and family counseling, stress management, and relaxation therapies.

In order to treat any type of headache, it is a must that you know what causes it. Before taking in any painkillers or undergoing any headache treatment procedure, make sure that you have consulted with your physician or health care provider first so he/she can give you the appropriate prescription or can give you a referral to appropriate experts if your headache is caused by any other disorder.