| Obesity significantly increases the risk of hypertension and the rate of its progression and smoking tobacco appears to intensify its effects. Increased blood pressure can damage the inner linings of the arteries leading to atherosclerosis or thickening of the walls of the arteries. This in turn leads to increased hypertension and heart disease as the heart becomes enlarged (hypertrophy).
Complications of untreated hypertension also include injury to vessels in the kidneys, brain, heart, and eyes that may cause kidney failure, stroke, heart failure, and retinopathy (impaired vision due to retinal damage at the back of the eye). High blood pressure indirectly increases the excretion of calcium in the urine that may lead to loss of bone mineral density, osteoporosis, and fractures, especially in elderly women. Sexual dysfunction occurs in 17% of hypertensive men. Long-term (chronic) high blood pressure may lead to decreased memory and mental function in the elderly. Women of childbearing age who have high blood pressure before they become pregnant are at greater risk for pre-eclampsia, a severe and sudden increase in blood pressure during pregnancy that can be very serious for both mother and child. If primary hypertension is untreated, it can lead to malignant hypertension with severe blood pressure elevations that can be life-threatening. |
Source: Medical Disability Advisor