Why do doctors say that hypertension is asymptomatic?

My husband's relatives were visiting tonight, and two of them got into a disagreement over the subject of hypertension. His uncle said her doctor told him he should invest in a home measuring device because hypertension is asymptomatic. This comment set off all kinds of alarmed glances, and after a while another uncle told him that he should invest in a new doctor. I'm not a doctor or nurse, but I work around patients and medical personnel, and I've seen persons with hypertension get really panicky when their blood pressure is way up OR way down. Does anyone on this Yahoo board know for sure about hypertension being asymptomatic?

yes, because only when it is WAY up or WAY down can you really be conciously aware of it. however, unless the person has a strong personal and family history of hypertension, AND chest pains leading to heart attacks, a home blood pressure cuff is really not needed. regular check ups should be enough to see something coming first hand.

For the most part it is, and his doctor is right. Some people with very high blood pressure will get headaches or some other vague symptom but most don't. Other than measuring your blood pressure there is no way to even guess it might be high.

Severe hyportension (low blood pressure) does have symptoms, like fainting or light headiness, but that is only for very low blood pressure.

It can be asymptomatic as lots of people have high blood pressure without knowing it. Home machines are a good idea as you are not stressed lying on your own bed or sofa. I have one and it's great to keep an accurate check without the stresses of waiting about in a doctors surgery. Maybe your are confusing asymptomatic with psychosomatic.

It can be for some people. The longer you have high blood pressure, the less sensitive you become to it's symptoms. Some people know when their blood pressure is elevated because they can feel it either by having a headache, pressure feelings in their chest or neck. This happens because blood vessels have what is called "barrow receptors" that sense pressure changes in the vessel and send signals to the brain that are interpreted as various pains or feelings. As arteries age and harden these receptor sites stop functioning, ( because they are stretch receptors and the arteries no longer stretch.) Therefore, a person ceases to have the same sensations they did before when their blood pressure elevated.

So, the advice to get a blood pressure monitor is correct and sound because there are many other things that can give a person the same pains and sensations without it being blood pressure related!

Asymptomatic, simply means "showing no symptoms". Hypertension is a medical term for High Blood Pressure. HBP is known as the "silent killer", because you can have HBP but not have any outward symptoms of the disease.
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