Those who are young like to get rid of headaches or dizziness. However, such seemingly harmless problems can also indicate hypertension. There are good reasons to have this clarified in case of doubt.
Young people can also develop high blood pressure. Therefore, they should take warning signs seriously, advises the German Society for Internal Medicine (DGIM). These include sleep disorders, headaches and dizziness. If the blood pressure is very high, you may experience sudden pain in the upper body, severe palpitations or shortness of breath under exertion.
The problem is that high blood pressure often goes undetected or untreated for a long time – and in that time it already causes damage to organs, according to the DGIM.
Therefore, according to the professional association, it is important not to dismiss possible symptoms and ideally to check your blood pressure yourself regularly or have it measured by specialists.
Affected young people
Because arterial hypertension, as high blood pressure is called in technical jargon, is the most common internal disease, especially among sporty young people, emphasizes DGIM chairman Prof. Sebastian Schellong.
It is advisable to clarify relevant symptoms and possible causes for the high blood pressure at an early stage. The disease often only shows effects later in life, according to the specialist society, mainly from the age of 50 – for example in the form of heart failure, strokes or kidney problems.
Lifestyle and medication
First, people often try to get a handle on high blood pressure with a change in lifestyle. But if that doesn’t help, medication can also be prescribed.
The limit for hypertension in Europe is a resting blood pressure of 140 to 90 mmHg (millimetres of mercury). But even below this threshold, one can say that the risk of heart attack or stroke increases with higher blood pressure.
