Download Your hypertension glossary (1/3)

Your hypertension glossary (1/3)
Here is a list of words and terms your doctor might use when describing your treatment plan for high blood pressure.
• Adherence: The term is used by doctors to describe the action of patients who stick to their agreed treatment plan,
which includes medication and life style modifications. This is also sometimes called compliance.
• Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring: This is when your blood pressure is being measured as you move around,
living your normal daily life. The device is normally carried over 24 hours.
• Artery: A vessel that carries blood away from the heart; the blood in arteries is usually full of oxygen.
• Atherosclerosis: Hardening and thickening of the walls of the arteries.
• Antihypertensive: A medicine or treatment which is taken to reduce high blood pressure.
• Angiotensin: Angiotensin is a hormone and part of a system that normally helps to regulate your blood pressure.
It is made when the kidney senses that your blood pressure is low. When angiotensin is present in the blood, it
makes your blood vessels get narrower and also makes your body retain water. Both of these things cause your
blood pressure to rise.
• Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) inhibitor: A type of antihypertensive medication used to treat high blood pressure. ACE inhibitors work by stopping the production of angiotensin, reducing the amount present in the blood.
• Angiotensin Receptor Blocker (ARB): A type of antihypertensive medication used to treat high blood pressure.
ARBs interrupt the angiotensin signal, stopping its effects on blood vessels and water loss, which helps to reduce
blood pressure.
• Beta-blocker: A type of medication occasionally used to treat high blood pressure. Beta-blockers are not usually
used as a first-choice medicine for high blood pressure. They are sometimes given to people who have problems
with other blood pressure medicines, or whose blood pressure is not being lowered enough by other medicines.
• BMI (Body Mass Index): A number that indicates whether a person’s weight is healthy for their height or if a person
is over- or underweight.
• Blood Pressure (BP): The pressure range in which the heart pumps blood through the vessels. Its standard
measuring unit is mmHg = millimetres of mercury.
• Calcium Channel Blocker (CCB): A type of antihypertensive medication used to treat high blood pressure.
CCBs decrease the amount of calcium that can get into muscle cells leading to a reduction in muscle contraction.
This is important because, in the heart, calcium increases the amount of blood that is pumped out in each beat,
and it also makes blood vessels narrower. By taking CCBs, blood vessels become wider and, in addition, have less
blood to carry, meaning that your blood pressure is reduced.
hypertensioncare.eu
Your hypertension glossary (2/3)
• Capillaries: The smallest blood vessels. They take oxygen-rich blood from the arteries to the cells of the body.
• Cardiovascular: Anything to do with the heart and blood vessels. (See also “total cardiovascular risk”)
• Cerebrovascular: Anything to do with the brain and blood vessels in the brain.
• Cerebrovascular accident (CVA) : A stroke.
• Circulatory system: The system that moves blood throughout the body, composed of the heart, arteries, capillaries
and veins.
• Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD): A condition where the kidneys do not work properly any longer. There are different
severity stages of CKD.
• Compliance: The term used by doctors to describe the action of patients who stick to their agreed treatment plan,
which includes medication and life style modifications. This is also sometimes called adherence.
• Complication: A health problem that results from a condition, procedure or treatment, which complicates the
situation. In this context it means a long-term cardiovascular consequence of high blood pressure.
• Diabetes: A disease where the control of the level of sugar in the blood is not functioning normally. If left
uncontrolled it can severely damage blood vessels, as well as causing other health problems.
• Diastolic blood pressure (DBP): Blood pressure during the time when the heart is relaxing between beats. The
‘lower’ value of the blood pressure reading.
• Diuretic: A medication that increases the excretion of water from the body by raising the rate of urination. The lower
blood volume leads to a reduced blood pressure.
• Electrocardiogram (ECG): A recording of the electrical activity of the heart to help find out if it is working as normal
or if there are any problems.
• Fixed-dose combination (FDC): A combination of two or more types of antihypertensive medication that is taken as a
single pill.
• Heart rate: The number of heart beats per minute (also known as pulse); this is different to blood pressure.
• Hypertension: High blood pressure.
• Ischaemic heart disease or myocardial ischaemia: Reduced supply of blood to the heart muscle.
• Metabolic syndrome: A collection of related health conditions and problems that can include diabetes, obesity, high
cholesterol and high blood pressure.
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Your hypertension glossary (3/3)
• mmHg: Millimetres of mercury, It’s the standard measuring unit for blood pressure.
• Monitoring of blood pressure: The practice of repeatedly and regularly measuring blood pressure. Sometimes this is
done intensively over a 24 hour period (see “ambulatory blood pressure monitoring”)
• Myocardial infarction (MI): A heart attack.
• Obesity: When a person is well above a healthy weight (i.e. they have a high BMI).
• Palpitations: Unpleasant sensation from the irregular or forceful beating of the heart.
• Persistence: The term used by doctors to describe the action of patients who stick to their agreed treatment
plan for as long as is recommended by their doctor. In the case of high blood pressure, this may be for a person’s
lifetime. Some doctors may use the words persistence and compliance interchangeably.
• Risk factor: Something that increases a person’s chance of developing a disease and/or impairs a person’s health.
• Self-monitoring: Keeping track of your own blood pressure readings. This can be done either by taking blood
pressure readings at home, using special equipment, or by writing down the measurements taken by your doctor
or nurse.
• Systolic blood pressure (SBP): Blood pressure during the time when the heart beats (i.e. contracts to push out
blood). The ‘upper’ value of the blood pressure reading.
• Thrombosis: A blood clot in a blood vessel.
• Total cardiovascular risk: Your risk of developing damage to your blood vessels that may lead to a heart attack,
stroke or chronic kidney disease. Your cardiovascular risk is increased by having high blood pressure, other conditions, such as diabetes or high cholesterol or a family history of heart disease or strokes. When all of these risks are
considered together, doctors call this your total cardiovascular risk. {link details: Page ID 2200}
• Transient ischemic attack (TIA): Also known as a mini stroke; temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain, which
can disappear without any long-term damage.
• Vein: A vessel that carries blood towards the heart; the blood in most veins usually contains little oxygen as it has
already been deposited to the body’s tissues.
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