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The surprising truth: Why high blood pressure causes sudden brain dysfunction?
Patients with high blood pressure often face challenges not only with their heart, but also with their brain health. Hypertensive encephalopathy (HE) is a comprehensive brain dysfunction caused by a sudden increase in blood pressure, and the onset is usually very rapid. This article takes a closer look at how high blood pressure affects the brain, what dangers it poses, and how to treat the condition.
Symptoms of hypertensive encephalopathy may include severe headache, vomiting, difficulty with balance, and confusion, often occurring suddenly.
Symptoms of hypertensive encephalopathy
Symptoms of hypertensive encephalopathy often appear within 12 to 48 hours of a sharp rise in blood pressure. Among them, the most common first symptom is severe headache, with more than 75% of patients experiencing this symptom. Subsequently, problems such as restlessness, confusion, and cognitive impairment may occur. Without prompt medical attention, these neurological symptoms may worsen and eventually lead to coma.
Although this condition is relatively uncommon, when it occurs, the patient's quality of life can be significantly affected.
Pathological mechanism
The main cause of hypertensive encephalopathy is an extreme increase in blood pressure. This condition may be caused by a variety of factors, including acute nephritis, pregnancy-induced hypertension (such as pre-epilepsy and epilepsy), and sudden cessation of antihypertensive medications. When blood pressure is too high, the brain's self-regulatory mechanism cannot function normally, resulting in abnormal cerebral blood flow and ultimately cerebral edema.
Excessively high blood pressure will constrict cerebral blood vessels, causing ischemia and cytotoxic edema.
Diagnostic methods
The diagnosis of hypertensive encephalopathy requires a variety of examinations, including physical examination, blood pressure measurement, electroencephalogram and head imaging examination. Because lowering blood pressure is the top priority, doctors will start using antihypertensive medications before test results are available.
Characteristics of impaired consciousness, such as a lack of alpha wave activity, can be detected through electroencephalography.
Treatment Plan
Treatment for hypertensive encephalopathy focuses on rapidly lowering blood pressure. The initial goal is to lower diastolic blood pressure to about 100 to 105 mmHg. Depending on the condition, the doctor may choose drugs such as intravenous sodium nitroprusside or labetalol. Although these drugs can quickly lower blood pressure, they must be carefully monitored to avoid low blood pressure, which may lead to complications such as myocardial infarction or stroke.
If treated promptly, hypertensive encephalopathy can usually recover completely without sequelae.
Looking to the future
Hypertensive encephalopathy is still an uncommon disease and is affected by the availability of medical resources. In many places, the risk of this condition is relatively high due to a lack of adequate medical care. As awareness of hypertension increases, timely diagnosis and treatment will greatly improve patients' survival rate and quality of life.
With changes in daily routine and eating habits, should you also start paying attention to your blood pressure?
