Hypertensive crisis - symptoms and first aid

Acute condition of arterial hypertension, speaking in an accessible language is a sharp jump in blood pressure, in medical terminology - a hypertonic crisis. This exacerbation is very dangerous for human life, and if you do not provide medical assistance in time, a fatal outcome can occur. Therefore, any person with this diagnosis and his relatives should remember that, regardless of the degree of disease indicated in the medical record, a crisis can occur unexpectedly at any time. And you need to be able to recognize the symptoms in the hypertensive crisis and provide first aid.

Hypertensive crisis - symptoms, causes, first aid

This disease is most often accompanied by such basic signs:

• a sharp increase in blood pressure;
• severe headaches, noise in the ears and head;
• shortness of breath and rapid pulse;
• dizziness and fainting;
• weakness, sometimes with trembling in the extremities, tremor, chills;
• nausea, vomiting;
• deterioration of vision.

The first signs of a hypertensive crisis can also be accompanied by facial swelling, a sense of fear, encephalopathy , neurological disorders, and in particularly severe conditions - kidney failure, arterial embolism, pulmonary edema, thrombosis and coma.

The most common signs of hypertensive crisis in women are found during the menopause, and first aid should be given promptly. But the symptomatology is the same, both in men and in women.

To a greater extent, the primary cause of blood pressure jumps is the change in weather conditions, so the peak of exacerbations occurs in the autumn-spring period. Strong stress and prolonged psycho-emotional stress, abolition of antihypertensive drugs, especially harsh, excessive weight, and excessive consumption of salt and alcohol, are also the causes of the crisis.

Hypertensive crisis in more than 60% of cases occurs in people suffering from hypertension, but also this type of complication can occur in renal failure due to brain edema, chronic pyelonephritis, endocrine system problems, hormonal disorders, or other diseases associated with cardiovascular system.

When there are symptoms of hypertensive crisis and emergency care, the main thing is not to panic and take the necessary actions:

1. Without delay, call an ambulance.
2. Provide rest and give an extraordinary time to take an antihypertensive drug , which the patient takes as prescribed by the doctor
3. The patient should be provided with fresh air indoors, open all windows and windows.
4. Lay in the position of "half sitting or reclining," throwing back his head not much back, and put a cold compress or ice on the forehead.
5. Give a drink a sedative, such as a tincture of valerian, motherwort or carvalole. It is better not to drink water, in order to avoid vomiting, which only contributes to raising blood pressure in the vessels.

In the event that the pain behind the sternum joins while waiting for the ambulance team, it is also necessary to give the Nitroglycerin pill.

Treatment and prevention

Each patient should understand that the prevention of the disease is better than the treatment. Therefore, in order to avoid exacerbations, the patient must constantly independently monitor his blood pressure, regularly take antihypertensive medications prescribed by the doctor, since even a single pass of taking the drug does not rarely lead to a crisis state.

Treatment is carried out mainly with drugs that reduce blood pressure, as well as vasodilators, diuretics and sedatives. Sometimes there is a need to resort to the use of ganglion blockers, neuroleptics and tranquilizers. Treatment can be performed in outpatient or inpatient settings, depending on the complexity of the course of the disease.