High blood pressure (hypertension) is very dangerous because it can cause serious health complications, often silently over many years. Without treatment, it can lead to disability, a poor quality of life, or even deadly events such as heart attack or stroke.

Major Health Risks of High Blood Pressure

• Heart Damage: It can cause coronary artery disease, heart failure, enlarged heart, and increase the risk of sudden cardiac death due to the heart working harder and arteries becoming damaged or narrowed.

• Brain Damage: High blood pressure is a leading cause of stroke, transient ischemic attacks (mini-strokes), vascular dementia, and mild cognitive impairment by damaging the blood vessels in the brain.

• Kidney Damage: It can harm the blood vessels in the kidneys, reducing their ability to filter waste, potentially leading to kidney failure.

• Eye Damage: Hypertension can damage the small blood vessels in the eyes causing retinopathy, vision distortion, and even vision loss.

• Other Effects: It raises the risk of metabolic syndrome, sexual dysfunction, and contributes to arterial plaque buildup (atherosclerosis), which further impacts circulation.

Why It's Called the "Silent Killer"

High blood pressure often has no symptoms until significant damage is done, making regular checks critical to detecting and managing it early to prevent these life-threatening complications.

In summary, high blood pressure is extremely dangerous because it damages multiple vital organs over time, increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, vision loss, and cognitive decline, usually without obvious symptoms until severe damage occurs.