Hypertension: The Silent Killer

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Recommended: Hypertension etiology and pathophysiology

The patient that stimulated the interest in this subject was a 57-year-old male admitted with an acute exacerbation of COPD. The patient also had a history of hypertension, pulmonary embolism, and deep vein thrombosis. The patient is a smoker as well as his family. He has had many problems with trying smoking cessation for years. The patient also has a history of depression and anxiety. The patient has been on many medications to control his hypertension, but it is still out of the normal range. This man was in great need of nonpharmacological intervention and education.

The focus of this paper will be presenting a general overview of the etiology of, global impact of, and compliance with treatment of hypertension. It will also cover the nonpharmacological interventions aimed at managing hypertension. Finally it will explore caring for the psychosocial needs of the patient and how this can help to treat and possibly prevent hypertension.

One of the problems with essential hypertension is that it has no clear etiology. In one of the articles covered in this paper the essential mechanisms of hypertension are reviewed. The three systems that affect blood pressure I will cover in this paper are the kidneys, the immune system, and the nervous system.

The kidneys play a vital role in the control of blood pressure. They do this by controlling the sodium retention and excretion, which in turn controls blood volume and thus blood pressure. In one study, the kidneys of hypertensive rats were exchanged with other rats and it was found that the hypertension shifted to the new rat that received the hypertensive kidney (Coffman, 2011). This shows the importance of the kidney in hypertensive patients.

The article also revealed that an...

... middle of paper ...

...ent of their diseases.

Works Cited

Coffman, T. (2011). Under pressure: the search fot the essential mechanisms of hypertension. Nature Magazine , 1402-1409.

DeSimone, M. E., & Crowe, A. (2008). Nonpharmacological approaches in the management of hypertension. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners , 189-196.

Hildingh, C. (2009). The association among hypertension and reduced psychological well-being, anxiety and sleep disturbances: a population study. The Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences , 366-371.

Lee, D. E., & Cooper, R. S. (2009). Recommendations for Global Hypertension Monitoring and Prevention. Current Hypertension Reports , 444-449.

Osamor, P. E., & Owum, B. E. (2011). Factors Associated with Treatment Compliance in Hypertension in Southwest Nigeria. Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition , 619-628.

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