Blood pressure values for men
The same limit values apply to women and men. However, men more often develop high blood pressure before the age of 50. On average, men have an unhealthier lifestyle than women.
Therefore, they are more often and earlier affected by high blood pressure. Risk factors include smoking, alcohol consumption, diabetes mellitus, overweight and the sleep apnoea syndrome. Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome mainly affects overweight men who have breathing stops of at least 10 seconds duration 5 times per hour during sleep.
Often they also snore, although this is not serious, the breathing interruptions are dangerous, as they lead to a wake-up reaction of the body with a rise in blood pressure to ensure the oxygen supply. In the long term, this disease leads to high blood pressure. Since high blood pressure in itself causes hardly any perceptible discomfort, it is discovered late in a routine examination for many people. One symptom that can indicate high blood pressure in men is erectile dysfunction of the penis.
2. blood pressure value too high – What can be the causes?
The increase of the 2nd blood pressure value is the diastolic blood pressure value. This value corresponds exactly to the pressure at which the blood starts pulsating through the arterial blood vessels again when the pressure is released from the blood pressure cuff. Now there are various pathological causes that can lead to an increase, especially in the diastolic blood pressure value.
In general heart failure (“heart muscle weakness“), there is usually insufficient pressure when the blood is expelled into the aorta (“main artery“). This ultimately causes both blood pressure values to drop. However, diastolic heart failure has been described, which is mainly associated with diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation or obesity (“overweight“).
Obesity in particular leads to pathological deposition of fatty plaques in the arterial walls. This causes the vessels to constrict, and the resistance in the vascular system increases due to the constriction. Consequently, the blood pressure assumes higher values.
An increase in blood pressure can also be caused by an unhealthy, non-Mediterranean diet. This includes increased alcohol consumption, because it is associated with an increased calorie intake. A high-fat (cholesterol) and salty diet is considered to be the main cause of an increase in blood pressure.
The exact cellular mechanisms involved in a salty diet are the subject of current research. Smoking is also considered a risk factor, as it primarily contributes to a narrowing of the arterial blood vessels. Certain drugs and caffeine can also lead to an increase in blood pressure.
Organ-specific diseases can also be a cause. These include renal artery stenosis (renal hypertension), diseases or tumours of the adrenal glands with increased cortisol secretion, Cushing’s syndrome as a hormonal axis dysfunction or even taking the contraceptive pill. Approximately 50% of all cardiac insufficiencies are due to a disturbance in the filling phase of the heart (diastole).
This leads to a deficient filling of the heart chambers, which in turn results in a reduced ejection capacity of the heart, as described above. The heart begins the attempt to compensate for the reduced ejection performance by increasing the heart rate, in which the sympathetic tone is increased. In the long run, however, the cardiomyocytes (“heart muscle cells”) tire as a result, which in turn leads to the heart failure described above (“heart muscle weakness“). In the evening, elevated diastolic blood pressure values are generally normal. Arterial blood pressure is subject to a daily rhythm (low values in the morning with an increase towards the evening).
