High Blood Pressure Headaches - Truth or Myth?
BY joseph_s
First thing to understand about high blood pressure and headaches is that both are two different health conditions. Although many people associate headaches with high blood pressure, they are not necessarily interconnected, and a person can experience headaches not related to his or her high blood pressure. You need to understand the relationship between high blood pressure and headaches in order to cope with them successfully. Here are the basic facts about a headache and high blood pressure.
A headache is a condition wherein the head becomes in mild to severe pain. Headaches can be due to neck or back pains, stress, sinusitis, dehydration and many other possible causes. Severe, repeated episodes of headaches may result in high blood pressure, which is the reason why many people link high blood pressure to headaches.
High blood pressure, as its name suggests, is a condition wherein the blood pressure reaches a high level. Blood pressure is determined by how blood pushes against the arteries. When your heart beats and pumps blood, your blood pressure is at its highest - known as the systolic pressure. On the other hand, your blood pressure falls when your heart rests between each beat - known as the diastolic pressure.
The level of blood pressure is identified by both systolic and diastolic numbers. When these indicators are written down (i.e. 120/80), systolic is the top number and diastolic is the bottom number. If both numbers are too high, it indicates high blood pressure, which can potentially result in heart attacks, strokes or kidney disorders.
When the cause of your high blood pressure is unknown, your condition is called essential high blood pressure. However, if these high levels are a result of medications or health conditions such as headaches, then you have a secondary high blood pressure.
The Relation between Headaches and High Blood Pressure
Since majority of people who experience high blood pressure also experience headaches at the same time, they tend to believe that their high blood pressure is caused by headaches, or vice versa. However, headaches are not signs of high blood pressure. Some studies even show that high blood pressure may reduce the risks of headaches.
The common belief that a headache is related to high blood pressure is based on the fact that both conditions are very frequent and are likely to occur at the same time.
According to some studies, many patients start suffering from headaches after being diagnosed with high blood pressure. Experts think that it is rather an anxiety reaction associated with the patient's knowledge of high blood pressure than actual high levels of blood pressure itself.
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