Nearly half of adults (more than 100 million) in the United States have high blood pressure (arterial hypertension). 1 of 3 Americans affected. This chronic medical condition with many causes and components affects more than a billion people worldwide and can be very dangerous if it is not treated correctly. If you have high blood pressure and don’t treat the disease, it can affect your health and put you at risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, and other severe conditions.
When your blood pressure is high, it can damage artery and blood vessel walls over time which leads to dangerous health complications. Arterial hypertension is often called the “silent killer” because many people don’t notice symptoms for long. You don’t know your blood pressure is high unless you check it. Primary arterial hypertension can remain asymptomatic until you develop complications.
Normal blood pressure for adults is defined as under 120/80. Check your blood pressure regularly; it can save your life!
Risk Factors of High Blood Pressure:
Age-induced physical changes. If you are overweight, with age, the heart must work harder to pump blood, resulting in high blood pressure.
Genetics. You may have inherited a mutated, abnormal gene from your parents, predisposing you to hypertension.
Environmental factors. Lifestyle choices such as lack of physical exercise, unhealthy diet, being overweight, and stress can increase your chances of developing hypertension.
Uncontrolled high blood pressure threatens your life. It can impact driving also. In some news reports, we are informed that the driver lost control of his vehicle after suffering a heart attack, stroke, and fainting associated with hypertension. Maintaining healthy blood pressure is essential for safe driving.
You Should Never Drive If:
Your high blood pressure medicines cause symptoms that affect your driving ability.
You cannot drive during an acute hypertension attack.
If you are experiencing blackouts, throbbing headaches, and brain blunting
Driving is not allowed when severe, refractory, or malign hypertension remains untreated.
Acute hypertensive attacks and emergency hypertension preclude you from driving during the acute attack until you have been correctly diagnosed, treated, and stabilized without affecting visceral lesions that could diminish your capacity to drive.
Please call our medical clinic in Lynn, MA at 781-581-6181 or contact us online for more information about high blood pressure treatment and management. We can make your driving more comfortable and safer.
Schedule your consultation with the best doctors in Lynn, MA!
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