The following are the most important diseases or complications (end-organ damage) that may be contributed to by hypertension (high blood pressure):
Eyes and ocular appendages H00-H59)
- Amaurosis (blindness)
- Retinopathy (retinal disease that, if left untreated, leads to severe visual impairment)
Cardiovascular system (I00-I99).
- Apoplexy (stroke)
- Aortic aneurysm – outpouching of the aorta.
- Atherosclerosis (arteriosclerosis, hardening of the arteries).
- Dementia
- Heart failure (cardiac insufficiency)
- Cardiac arrhythmias – ventricular extrasystole (extra beats coming from the ventricle (heart chamber)), atrial fibrillation (VHF; men 1.4 times, women 1.5 times the risk).
- Hypertensive encephalopathy – hypertensive emergency characterized by an increase in intracranial (within the skull) pressure with consequent intracranial pressure signs.
- Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICB; cerebral hemorrhage).
- Coronary artery disease (CAD); esp. also in nurses with arterial hypertension (high blood pressure) who frequently had to lift patients or carry heavy loads on the job; at highest physical exertion: hazard ratio of 2.87 with a 95 percent confidence interval of 2.12 to 3.87 highly significant
- Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH; left ventricular hypertrophy; enlargement of the left ventricle).
- Already high-normal blood pressure (systolic blood pressure: 120-139 mmHg and/or with diastolic blood pressure 80-89 mmHg; “prehypertension”) increases LVH risk twofold (pegged to left ventricular mass index LVMI); cohort study; follow-up over 10 years.
- Increase in risk of atrial fibrillation (VHF).
- Myocardial infarction (heart attack)
- Peripheral arterial occlusive disease (pAVK) – progressive narrowing or occlusion of the arteries supplying the arms / (more often) legs, usually due to atherosclerosis (arteriosclerosis, arteriosclerosis).
Ears – mastoid process (H60-H95).
- Hearing loss in women-moderate association between hypertension and increased risk of hearing loss (adjusted relative risk [RR]: 1.04; 95% confidence interval between 1.01 and 1.07)
- Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
Psyche – nervous system (F00-F99; G00-G99)
- Depression – 2-fold higher risk if therapy with beta blocker or calcium antagonist instead of angiotensin antagonist or ACE inhibitor.
- Erectile dysfunction (ED; erectile dysfunction).
- Cerebral circulatory disorders – circulatory disorders of the brain.
Genitourinary system (kidneys, urinary tract – reproductive organs) (N00-N99).
- Nephropathy (kidney disease) with albuminuria/proteinuria (increased excretion of protein in urine).
- Renal insufficiency (kidney weakness)
- Renal failure
Medication
- Cotrimoxazole in combination with ACE inhibitors or sartans → mortality (death rate) ↑ due tohyperkalemia (potassium excess) (arrhythmia); risk of sudden death, within 14 days of antibiotic use, was increased by 54
Further
- End-organ damage, such as fundus hypertonicus, i.e., damage to the arterioles (arterial vessels) of the retina (retina) in the setting of systemic arterial hypertension
- Negative effects on intelligence in children (measured by neurocognitive tests: Rey Auditory Verbal Learning (word memory), CogState Groton Maze Learning Test (executive skills, i.e., mind), Grooved Pegboard Test (manual dexterity)).
Prognostic factors
- Cannabis (hashish and marijuana): risk of death from hypertension was 3.42-fold higher in marijuana users than in nonusers
