Hypertension is the most common disease in middle-aged and elderly people. In addition, there are also cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral infarction, which we often refer to as "stroke". These diseases are closely related, and the occurrence of one disease may likely trigger another. Now let's take a look at the relationship between hypertension and stroke.
Research has shown that nearly 90% of patients with cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral infarction have a history of hypertension before the onset of the disease. It can be seen that hypertension is easily associated with stroke, and the severity of hypertension is related to the occurrence of stroke.
The Causes of Stroke Caused by Hypertension
The main reason why hypertension causes stroke is that it can cause changes in the structure of the heart and brain blood vessels. When blood pressure rises, it can cause spasms in the small arteries throughout the body. If blood pressure remains high for a long time, the arteries will remain in a state of spasm, leading to oxygen deficiency in the blood vessel walls. This causes deformation of the vessel walls, thickening, narrowing, and reduced elasticity, which ultimately leads to or exacerbates the formation of arteriosclerosis. If combined with factors such as high blood lipids, high blood sugar, and increased blood stickiness, it can greatly accelerate the formation of blood clots inside the blood vessels.
The formation of cerebral hemorrhage is due to poor blood pressure control in hypertensive patients, leading to repeated spasms of the arteries, resulting in cerebral tissue bleeding, edema, or transparency change in the arterial wall, forming small intracranial artery aneurysms, which then cause cerebral hemorrhage.
This does not mean that high blood pressure will cause stroke as long as it occurs. The root cause of stroke in hypertensive patients lies in not taking antihypertensive drugs as prescribed by the doctor, improper diet, and failure to change lifestyle habits.
Neglecting the impact of factors such as climate, emotional changes, and excessive physical fatigue; intermittent antihypertensive treatment, frequent sudden increases in blood pressure; long-term hypertension without proper antihypertensive treatment; even with regular medication, blood pressure remains high for a long period of time; in addition, the probability of stroke increases significantly in hypertensive patients with comorbidities such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and obesity.
In conclusion, hypertension can cause stroke, mainly due to the failure of hypertensive patients to take medication and control blood pressure on time, as well as their unhealthy lifestyle and diet habits. In order to prevent stroke caused by hypertension, patients should first discipline themselves, develop good lifestyle and dietary habits, exercise appropriately, take antihypertensive drugs as prescribed, and avoid extreme emotional fluctuations.
