Hypertension

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a common condition that occurs when the force of your blood pushing up against your artery walls is high enough to cause health problems, such as heart disease. Your blood pressure is measured in two numbers: systolic pressure and diastolic pressure.

Systolic pressure measures the pressure of blood against your artery walls when your heart beats. Diastolic pressure measures the pressure between each beat. A normal blood pressure reading is anything with a systolic pressure below 120 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury) and a diastolic pressure below 80 mm Hg. The reading is given with the systolic pressure listed above the diastolic pressure.

Hypertension generally takes many years to develop. It’s easy for the healthcare providers at San Tan Cardiovascular Center to detect it, and once you know you have the condition, you can work to manage and control it, limiting your risk of more serious health problems that can arise, including heart attack and stroke.

How is a blood pressure taken?

To measure your blood pressure, one of our team member places an inflatable cuff around your arm. The cuff is connected to a gauge that measures your blood pressure as the cuff is tightened around your arm. A hypertension diagnosis with either be elevated, stage 1, or stage 2, depending on your reading.

Who is at risk for hypertension?

Since there are rarely any signs or symptoms associated with the onset of hypertension, it’s important to know who’s at risk.

Hypertension has many risk factors, such as:

  • Age, particularly if you’re over 65
  • Family history of hypertension
  • Being obese or overweight
  • An inactive lifestyle, lack of exercise
  • Smoking or chewing tobacco
  • A diet high in sodium
  • A diet low in potassium
  • Alcohol abuse
  • Stress

Many different underlying chronic conditions can also increase your risk of developing hypertension, including diabetes, kidney failure, and sleep apnea.

Treatment for Hypertension at San Tan Cardiovascular Center

A major part of hypertension treatment and management is lifestyle modification counseling. Our team will help you incorporate exercise and new diet strategies into your routine.

Among the common changes they recommend are lowering your sodium intake and boosting the amount of potassium in your diet.

Sometimes prescription medication is necessary to decrease your high blood pressure. Managing medications, such as calcium channel blockers and thiazide diuretics, can also help manage your hypertension.

How do I get started?

Contact San Tan Cardiovascular Center today to make an appointment with one of our healthcare providers.

At this appointment:

  • we will review your medical history, discuss your symptoms and perform a non-invasive, diagnostic test to further determine your medical condition,
  • any pertinent testing that needs to be done beforehand will also be ordered at this time.

Our billing department will then contact your health insurance company to obtain prior authorization.  Upon receiving insurance authorization, the treatments will be scheduled.