High Blood Pressure Can Cause More Issues in Women and They May Not Know It

Women can experience more issues when it comes to high blood pressure, but they may not know it.

Barbara Cannon has kept her blood pressure in check with medication and routine appointments since her diagnosis about 25 years ago.

"I had gone for a routine checkup, and the doctor said my pressure was very high and referred me to a primary care doctor for treatment," Cannon said. "I will admit to being rather upset when I was first diagnosed, which probably made my pressure go higher. But eventually, you learn that it is treatable, and with medication and some lifestyle changes, it can be treated."

Like many women diagnosed with high blood pressure, Cannon did not experience any symptoms.

"I really did not have any symptoms. That's, I think, the problem with high blood pressure. It's why they call it the secret killer because people don't realize that they have it," Cannon said.

According to Ernestine A. Wright, M.D., FACP, a board-certified primary care doctor with Mercy Personal Physicians Downtown in Baltimore, while hypertension is more common in men than women, women can experience more problems, especially during menopause and pregnancy.

"Women tend to have problems with their pressure getting elevated due to hormonal changes," Dr. Wright said.

Dr. Wright explained there are several preventative measures, including a low-salt diet, good sleep, regular exercise and decreasing stress levels.

"Women are more likely to have problems with headaches, dizziness, a tightness across the chest, problems with hot flashes, and the difficulty is that some of those symptoms mimic what one would experience when going through menopausal changes," Dr. Wright said, adding that it’s important to seek treatment for high blood pressure to prevent more severe health issues.

View Mercy primary care physician Dr. Ernestine Wright’s interview about how high blood pressure impacts women.