High Blood Pressure and Kidney Disease
What is High Blood Pressure?
As blood flows through your veins, it presses against the walls of your blood vessels. When this “pressure” is more than it should be, it is know as high blood pressure, or hypertension. Extra fluid in your body increases the volume of fluid in your blood and makes your blood pressure higher. Narrow or clogged blood vessels can also raise blood pressure.
The only way to know if your blood pressure is high is to have it taken by a trained professional. After the test, you will be given two numbers that represent the pressure when your heart is beating and when it is resting between beats.
A person's blood pressure is considered high if it goes above 120/80 (usually said “120 over 80”).
How Does High Blood Pressure Affect My Kidneys?
High blood pressure can damage your kidneys. It is the second leading cause of kidney failure. Your kidneys play a role in keeping your blood pressure at the right level. Because of this, some people who already have kidney disease can also get high blood pressure.
High blood pressure makes the heart work harder and can damage blood vessels in the body. If the blood vessels in the kidneys are damaged, they may stop doing their job of removing wastes and extra fluid from the blood. The extra fluid may then raise blood pressure even more.
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