paroxysmal af is the medical term for persistent high arterial blood pressure.
the medical term for persistent high arterial blood pressure is?
paroxysmal af
lifestyle changes and medications can lower blood pressure and decrease the risk of health complications. lifestyle changes include weight loss, physical exercise, decreased salt intake, reducing alcohol intake, and a healthy diet. if lifestyle changes are not sufficient then blood pressure medications are used. up to three medications can control blood pressure in 90% of people. the treatment of moderately high arterial blood pressure (defined as 160/100 mmhg) with medications is associated with an improved life expectancy. the effect of treatment of blood pressure between 130/80 mmhg and 160/100 mmhg is less clear, with some reviews finding benefit and others finding unclear benefit. high blood pressure affects between 16 and 37% of the population globally. in 2010 hypertension was believed to have been a factor in 18% of all deaths (9.4 million globally).
hypertension
in response to a lowering of the plasma sodium concentration, or to a fall in the arterial blood pressure, the juxtaglomerular cells release renin into the blood. renin is an enzyme which cleaves a decapeptide (a short protein chain, 10 amino acids long) from a plasma α-2-globulin called angiotensinogen. this decapeptide is known as angiotensin i. it has no known biological activity. however, when the blood circulates through the lungs a pulmonary capillary endothelial enzyme called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ace) cleaves a further two amino acids from angiotensin i to form an octapeptide known as angiotensin ii. angiotensin ii is a hormone which acts on the adrenal cortex, causing the release into the blood of the steroid hormone, aldosterone. angiotensin ii also acts on the smooth muscle in the walls of the arterioles causing these small diameter vessels to constrict, thereby restricting the outflow of blood from the arterial tree, causing the arterial blood pressure to rise. this, therefore, reinforces the measures described above (under the heading of "arterial blood pressure"), which defend the arterial blood pressure against changes, especially hypotension.
homeostasis