Hold on a second, EXACTLY/PRECISELY why is hypertension bad again?

[Knicks]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Arterial and end-organ damage, I know I know.

How/why, though? (Preferably use analogies).

I never realized how much of a mind-block I can experience when someone asks me why hypertension is bad. lol

 

[ACSurgeon]

Arterial and end-organ damage, I know I know.

How/why, though? (Preferably use analogies).

I never realized how much of a mind-block I can experience when someone asks me why hypertension is bad. lol

One of the most straight forward explanations is that the heart has to work against more pressure. With time this leads to ventricular hypertrophy. Can cause heart failure from being overworked. Can cause a-fib and stroke from the heart being dialted.

You can also get a hemorrhagic stroke from having high BP in cerebral circulation (blood bursts out of vessels).

High BP traumatizes blood vessels. This can cause aneurysms, dissections, and worsend atherosclerotic dz proccesses.

That's off the top of my head. Hope this offers a good start!

 

[BBender716]

Going off what lazymed has said, the result of the heart pumping against more pressure (increased afterload), results in a lower stroke volume (lower CO). If a layman asks why it's bad, just say your heart works harder and pumps less blood = bad for you.

 

[Knicks]

Perfect. Thanks guys.

 

[Instatewaiter]

Arterial and end-organ damage, I know I know.

How/why, though? (Preferably use analogies).

I never realized how much of a mind-block I can experience when someone asks me why hypertension is bad. lol

HTN causes endothelial damage which causes atherosclerosis.

HTN increases afterload causing cardiac hypertrophy which can cause diastolic dysfunction

 

[ACSurgeon]

and to clarify the a-fib--> stroke part, when the heart walls are streched the blood flow becomes turbulent and forms a big clot in the heart that then has little clots break off it and go places such as the brain (stroke) or less commonly intestines or kidneys.

For other end organ damage: high BP = injury to eye vessels/kidney vessels, etc causing dysfxn of these organs.

 

[Knicks]

Fanx!

 

[jl13]

hypertrophy in the left ventricle that can cause arrhythmia and peripheral vascular disease that can result (in extreme cases) in amputation.

 

[p30doc]

HTN makes kidney 🙁

 

[BigRedder]

Hypertension:microvasculature :: Medical school:Medical students

High pressure causes repeated stress and trauma, making them hard, unyielding, and less functional.

 

[Music MD]

Damage to vasculature always seemed like the most important harm to me.. I'm not really sure how common the cardiac hypertrophy and the whole filling dysfunction are when compared to atherosclerosis. I mean sure the heart has to pump harder and it won't pump as efficiently, but when does it really become a problem? Soon as those coronary arteries get filled up. Wouldn't happen if the damage didnt start in the first place from the pressure being too high.

 

[nitemagi]

Damage to vasculature always seemed like the most important harm to me.. I'm not really sure how common the cardiac hypertrophy and the whole filling dysfunction are when compared to atherosclerosis. I mean sure the heart has to pump harder and it won't pump as efficiently, but when does it really become a problem? Soon as those coronary arteries get filled up. Wouldn't happen if the damage didnt start in the first place from the pressure being too high.

Some people get CHF before they get an MI or stroke.

 

[Music MD]

True but we put people on BP meds more often to reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke right? These are vascular issues.. and the cardiomyopathy is secondary to the heart pumping against sclerotic arteries, also vascular.

 

[ArcGurren]

Just explain that it causes immense vascular damage, and since your blood vessels go everywhere it can affect pretty much all your organs (brain, kidney, heart, lungs, etc). Far from being a stupid question this is actually a really good topic because a lot of my family members kind of blow off HTN like it's no big deal. Same with diabetes unfortunately, though the effects of that are usually more acute in some cases.

 

[Mattchiavelli]

same as everyone said, but with patients I like to drop the big words- STROKE, HEART ATTACK, kidney failure with DIALYSIS, and BLINDNESS. I feel like those are the four biggies, because they cause major morbidity. I emphasize that it will take not only years from their life but life from their years. You have to make it real for them because numbers don't relate to patients as well as they do to us.

 

[montessori2md]

Imagine filling a water balloon with water from your kitchen faucet.
Now imagine filling it with water from a fire hydrant.
See how that's bad for the balloon? (aka endothelial cells)

If that's not concrete enough, imagine the water hitting you instead of filling a balloon.

If that's not artery-enough for you, instead of a balloon, cut the tip off a condom, and use that instead of the balloon, so you have a tube instead of a closed space.

There are some not bad pharmaceutical company generated animations on youtube.

And don't forget that sometimes HTN is a symptom instead of a causative factor.

 

[hrandani]

While it may not be the most technically accurate explanation, I never had any problems getting the message across that high pressure can cause a vessel in their head, kidney, eye etc to explode.

 

[hurdlepup]

I would go with the analogy similar to the water balloon, but slightly different...

Its like over-inflating car tires--given a hot day and too much pressure, your tire will either start springing leaks or fail completely. And if you keep inflating it to that high pressure everyday, you will also start damaging your air pump because it won't be able to handle the pressure.

(tires=blood vessels, pump=heart)

 

[Knicks]

Just explain that it causes immense vascular damage, and since your blood vessels go everywhere it can affect pretty much all your organs (brain, kidney, heart, lungs, etc). Far from being a stupid question this is actually a really good topic because a lot of my family members kind of blow off HTN like it's no big deal. Same with diabetes unfortunately, though the effects of that are usually more acute in some cases.

Thanks. 🙂

same as everyone said, but with patients I like to drop the big words- STROKE, HEART ATTACK, kidney failure with DIALYSIS, and BLINDNESS. I feel like those are the four biggies, because they cause major morbidity. I emphasize that it will take not only years from their life but life from their years. You have to make it real for them because numbers don't relate to patients as well as they do to us.

whoa, I like that 👍


Thanks everyone for your input as well,,, I mean, I knew the answer, but when I was asked this question by a "layman", I had a type of "writers-bock".

Thanks, again.

 

[Law2Doc]

...

If that's not artery-enough for you, instead of a balloon, cut the tip off a condom, and use that instead of the balloon, so you have a tube instead of a closed space...

Okay I cut the tip of the condom off. How does this protect me from hypertension again? All this safe sex talk is just too darn confusing