Should a 23 yr. old follow up if finds out she has hypertension? -

Absolutely. The sooner this is caught and treated the better.

If you have been diagnosed with hypertension I assume that you are under a physician s care. If you think that you have hypertension but are not certain then you need to discuss the matter with your physician. The diagnosis of hypertension is not based upon a single or even 2 readings but rather 3. I regard elevated office blood pressure readings as identifying which people need to follow their blood pressure at home. The blood pressure rises and falls during the day - and from the lowest to the highest reading - the difference may be as much as 50/25 mm Hg. The medical literature recommends one of two home blood pressure monitoring devices: the RelyOn and the Omron. Home blood pressure should be taken 1st thing in the AM meaning wake up - go to the bathroom (which is what most of us do) - and then take your blood pressure. Readings taken in this fashion are the most accurate and reproducible. The goal for a 1st thing in the AM blood pressure is 115/075 mm Hg. This number was chosen as there is a linear increase in cardiovascular risk above 115/075 mm Hg. Indeed for every 20/10 mm Hg above this cardiovascular risk doubles. This means that a 1st thing in the AM reading of 135/085 mm Hg (which may seem normal to you) represents twice the cardiovascular risk of someone whose reading is 115/075 mm Hg. Please do not misunderstand. If you have hypertension and your blood pressure is brought down to 115/075 mm Hg you have minimized but not eliminated the increased risk. Functional changes in the endothelial cell which lines the arteries begins 5 to 10 years prior to the blood pressure elevating. Abnormal function leads to structural abnormalities. Treatment improves this circumstance but is not able to undo all of the damage. There are 2 types of hypertension: Primary and secondary. The term essential hypertension should never be utilized as there is nothing essential about having a disease. Primary hypertension makes up 95% of the cases. The cause of primary hypertension is unknown. Secondary hypertension means that the elevation in blood pressure is due to something else. Most commonly this is renal (kidney) disease. It should be relatively easy for your physician to determine whether you have hypertension and if you do whether it is primary or secondary. If you have further questions please email me at johnerussomd@jhu.edu. I wish you the very best of health and may God Bless.

to be diagnosed with hypertension, u need 2 consecutive elevated blood pressure readings on 2 separate occasions about 2 or more weeks apart. and yes, if ur diagnosed with it, u may need to be on medication. if its not too high (pre-hypertension), u may get by with just lifestyle modifications such as exercise and improve ur diet. but definitely folow up as u may have an underlying disease such as pheochromocytoma or hyperthyroidism.

if ure questioning as to whether to follow up on it, u need to because there must be something making u thing u have it. Hypertension is a very serious condition