High blood pressure: Lifestyle changes to reduce reading
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Nosebleeds are usually not a sign of anything serious and are most often treated at home. But persistent or long-lasting nosebleeds can be linked to having high blood pressure, which can cause a multitude of other health problems.
Nosebleeds are pretty common and most people will experience them every now and again. Anyone can get a nosebleed, but they most often affect:
- children between two and 10 years of age
- elderly people
- pregnant women
- people who take blood thinning medication such as aspirin or anticoagulants, such as warfarin
- people with blood clotting disorders, such as haemophilia
Does high blood pressure cause nosebleeds?
Whether high blood pressure is a cause of nosebleeds remains up for debate by doctors and scientists.
Hypertension is not known to directly cause nosebleeds, however, it is believed the blood vessels in your nose are more susceptible to damage if you have high blood pressure.
A study in 2020 of 35,749 participants found that those with a history of high blood pressure had an increased risk of intense nosebleeds – ones that require a visit to hospital – in comparison with people who had no history of high blood pressure.
And, according to the American Heart Association, high blood pressure is not a cause of nosebleeds unless your blood pressure levels are extremely high, known as a hypertensive crisis.
A hypertensive crisis is a sudden spike in your blood pressure over 180/120 mm Hg that can be life-threatening.
When your blood pressure reaches or raises above this level, you are significantly more at risk of a heart attack or stoke, as well as kidney and eye damage.
Frequent nosebleeds can be a sign of a hypertensive crisis as the blood vessels in the nose are easily damaged.
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Other symptoms include headaches, dizziness, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, confusion and severe anxiety.
In 2019, the British Heart Foundation reported that just over a quarter of adults in the UK – around 14.4 million people – have high blood pressure.
Only nine million of these are diagnosed – making over five million people who have not yet been diagnosed with having hypertension.
The charity also estimated that 1.3 million of these may be under the age of 45.
High blood pressure is easy to diagnose, as a blood pressure check with your doctor takes only a matter of minutes.
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