High Blood Pressure
Primary Care Physician, Geriatric Care & Internal Medicine located in Cucamonga, CA
If you’re one of the 116 million Americans with high blood pressure, you can find holistic, patient-centered care at Rajan Medical Group. As a skilled primary care physician, Deepak Thiagarajan, MD, has extensive experience diagnosing and managing high blood pressure. Dr. Thiagarajan designs treatment plans using lifestyle changes, diet improvements, medications, and other strategies to lower your blood pressure levels and prevent complications like stroke. Call the San Bernardino, California, office to schedule a high blood pressure consultation or book an appointment online today.
Your blood pressure is the measurement of the force of your blood against the walls of your arteries. When you have high blood pressure (hypertension), it means the force of your blood is too high, which can lead to serious complications like vessel damage, heart disease, and stroke.
There are two categories of high blood pressure:
Primary hypertension describes high blood pressure that develops gradually over time due to age-related changes in the body. For instance, as plaque builds up in your arteries (atherosclerosis), your risk for high blood pressure levels increases.
Secondary hypertension can develop suddenly as the result of underlying health issues or environmental factors like:
Use of over-the-counter cold medicines or birth control and illegal drugs can also contribute to secondary hypertension.
High blood pressure is known as a silent killer because you may have the condition for years without knowing it. Only when damage occurs in your blood vessels will symptoms like headaches, nosebleeds, and shortness of breath develop. At that time your risk for stroke and other complications increases.
For this reason, you should schedule routine blood pressure checks at Rajan Medical Group. Dr. Thiagarajan provides blood pressure screenings during primary care visits and sick visits to ensure your blood pressure levels are healthy.
You may need to schedule more frequent blood pressure evaluations if you’re at high risk for hypertension due to your family history, obesity, smoking history, or a chronic health condition.
In the early stages of high blood pressure, Dr. Thiagarajan may recommend lifestyle and diet changes you can make to lower your blood pressure levels naturally. This may include:
You can also benefit from the medically supervised weight-loss services available at Rajan Medical Group if you can’t successfully lose weight on your own. Even a small amount of weight loss can lower your blood pressure and prevent serious health complications.
When these strategies aren’t enough to keep your blood pressure at healthy levels, you may need to take medications that relax your vessels so that blood can flow easily. You might also need other medications if your high blood pressure results from kidney disease or other chronic conditions.
Call Rajan Medical Group to schedule a blood pressure screening or book an appointment online today.