High blood pressure carries with it some big health implications. One big problem is that it’s not always easy to recognize high blood pressure in someone until a doctor diagnoses it. Here’s what you need to know about high blood pressure and your senior.
Risk Factors of Uncontrolled High Blood Pressure
When you understand the risk factors that come along with high blood pressure, that can help you to understand why it’s so important to pay attention to this health metric. People with untreated high blood pressure are far more likely to experience organ failure, including heart failure, at some stage. They’re also more likely to experience a stroke. These are serious health issues that can be avoided to a certain extent.
Recognize the Symptoms
Many medical professionals refer to high blood pressure as a silent disease because it can sneak up on someone very slowly. Some of the symptoms are incredibly gradual, such as headaches that increase in intensity and frequency over time. Your elderly family member might start to experience changes to her vision when her vision has been stable for a long time. If your elderly family member is experiencing chest pain or trouble breathing, she should see her doctor right away.
Get a Proper Diagnosis
If you’re in doubt at all about your senior’s blood pressure, you have options. There’s always the blood pressure meter at the drug store, or even a home meter. But those are just ways to start seeing what you’re suspecting. Go to your senior’s doctor with her and talk about what she’s been feeling and experiencing. Her doctor can take her blood pressure and run some other tests to see what’s really going on. Once you’ve got a proper diagnosis, you can make a plan.
Follow the Treatment Plan
Your senior’s doctor will map out a plan for her. If her blood pressure is extremely high, then lowering it is going to feel weird to her at first. She may need to make changes to her diet, she may need to start exercising with guidance from her doctor, and she may be prescribed one or more medications. Following that treatment plan as closely as possible is really important, particularly if her blood pressure is extremely high.
As your senior’s blood pressure levels change and hopefully come down, she may not feel as well as she would like. Having help from elder care providers can help to smooth that transition.
If you or an aging loved one is considering hiring elder care in Sunnyvale, CA, please contact the caring staff at Home Helpers today (408) 317-4969.
