High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is the single most important risk factor for stroke. It causes about 50 per cent of ischemic strokes and also increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke

The damage that hypertension causes happens over time and is often only diagnosed when considerable damage has already happened to the body’s blood vessels. If you have hypertension you are unlikely to have any obvious symptoms for a long time. Symptoms associated with hypertension include tiredness, confusion, vision changes, angina-like chest pain, heart failure, blood in urine, nosebleed, irregular heartbeat, ear noise or buzzing.

But hypertension can be managed successfully, although many people do not seek treatment.

How do I know if I have hypertension?

High blood pressure is defined as a systolic blood pressure above 140 mmHg and/or a diastolic blood pressure above 90 mmHg. Systolic blood pressure is the maximum pressure in the arteries when the heart contracts. Diastolic blood pressure is the minimum pressure in the arteries between the heart’s contractions.

You will be classed as having high blood pressure if yours is consistently above 140/90 mmHg.

How hypertension increases your risk of stroke?

The strain hypertension places on all your blood vessels makes them weaken and predisposes them to damage. Your heart also has to work harder to keep your blood circulating.

Once your blood vessels weaken they are more likely to block. This can cause an ischemic stroke and hypertension is the most important cause of this type of stroke and also transient ischemic attacks.

Less often, hypertension is implicated in hemorrhagic strokes when a blood vessel in the brain bursts and blood leaks into the brain.
 

This information was gathered from the World Heart Federation.