Understanding High Blood Pressure and Headaches
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A headache is a condition wherein the head becomes in mild to severe pain. Headaches can be due to neck or back pains, stress, sinusitis, dehydration and a list of possible causes. When severe, repeated episodes of headaches occur, it may result in high blood pressure, which is the reason why many people link high blood pressure to headaches.
High blood pressure, as its name suggests, is a condition wherein the blood pressure reaches a high level. Blood pressure is determined by how blood pushes against the arteries. When your heart beats and pumps blood, your blood pressure is at its highest - known as the systolic pressure. On the other hand, your blood pressure falls when your heart rests between each beat - known as the diastolic pressure.
Systolic and diastolic are two numbers that indicate one's level of blood pressure. When these indicators are written down (i.e. 120/80), systolic is at the top while diastolic is the bottom number. When both numbers become high, it means you have high blood pressure, which could cause heart attacks, strokes or kidney disorders.
When you do not know why you have high blood pressure, your condition is called essential high blood pressure. However, if these high levels are a result of medications or health conditions such as headaches, then you have a secondary high blood pressure.
Is Headache Related to High Blood Pressure?
Since majority of people who experience high blood pressure also experience headaches at the same time, this led them to believe that their high blood pressure was caused by headaches. Headaches are not signs of high blood pressure. Some studies even show that high blood pressure may reduce the risks of headaches.
The reason why many people believe that a headache is related to high blood pressure is because both these conditions are extremely common and are likely to occur at the same time.
Some studies suggest that some patients experience headaches after being diagnosed with high blood pressure. Experts say that this could be an anxiety reaction associated with the patient's knowledge of high blood pressure and not because of the high levels of blood pressure itself.
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