Having a feeling of numb hands could mean that you might be at risk of having high blood pressure. Most people have felt a tingling sensation in their hands at some point in their lifetime, and its usually nothing to worry about. But it could also be caused by something more serious, and could be a sign of hypertension. You should speak to a doctor and have your blood pressure checked if you persistently have a tingling in your hands.
“Hypertension increases the risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke and renal disease,” said LiveStrong.
“When not controlled blood pressure levels can rise to the point that you start to experience physical symptoms.
“Some of the symptoms are nonspecific and may be overlooked as being a byproduct of some less serious condition or external cause.
Early detection is important and going for regular blood pressure readings can help to notice any changes that may need attention.
Diabetes.co.uk states the symptoms of having high blood pressure as:
- Headaches
- Vision problems
- Nose bleeds
- Trouble breathing
- Fits
- Black-outs
A weakness or numbness on the side of the face, and difficulty speaking or understanding speech could also be warning signs of the condition.
High blood pressure could be caused by eating an unhealthy diet, being overweight, or not doing enough exercise.
Eating too much salt also increases the risk of hypertension. Everyone should aim to eat less than 6g of salt in a single day which is equivalent to about a teaspoonful.
High blood pressure is the force of blood against your artery walls. This pressure is constantly rising and falling as your heart pumps blood around the body.
The heart pumps blood with low oxygen levels toward the lungs, which replenishes oxygen supplies, and then pumps oxygen-rich blood around the body to supply the muscles and cells.
This pumping action creates pressure, and if a person has high blood pressure, it means that the walls of the arteries are constantly under too much force.
If high blood pressure is left untreated, it can speed up hardening of the arteries and this is associated with the formation of plaques of cholesterol in the arteries and a blockage is most likely.
When a blockage occurs in the heart, the result is a heart attack. A blockage in the brain is likely to cause a stroke and strokes can also be caused by bleeding in the brain when high blood pressure causes weakness in a blood vessel.
