Hypertensive emergency
Hypertensive Emergency
Hypertensive emergency (pronunciation: hy-per-ten-sive e-mer-gen-cy) is a severe increase in blood pressure that can lead to a stroke. Extremely high blood pressure — a top number (systolic pressure) of 180 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or higher or a bottom number (diastolic pressure) of 120 mm Hg or higher — can damage blood vessels. The blood vessels become inflamed and may leak fluid or blood. As a result, the heart may not be able to pump blood effectively.
Etymology
The term "hypertensive" is derived from the word "hypertension", which in turn comes from the prefix "hyper-" (meaning high or over) and "tension" (from the Latin "tensio", meaning pressure). The term "emergency" comes from the Latin "emergere", meaning to rise out or up.
Related Terms
- Hypertension: A condition characterized by consistently high blood pressure.
- Blood Pressure: The force exerted by the blood against the walls of the blood vessels.
- Stroke: A medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain results in cell death.
- Systolic Pressure: The top number in a blood pressure reading, indicating the amount of pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls when the heart beats.
- Diastolic Pressure: The bottom number in a blood pressure reading, indicating the amount of pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls while the heart is resting between beats.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Hypertensive emergency
- Wikipedia's article - Hypertensive emergency
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