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Is High Blood Pressure Considered Heart Disease?

Blood pressure is the measurement of the force of your blood pressing against the walls of your arteries. When your blood pressure increases, your heart has to work harder to pump blood through your circulatory system. High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a condition in which your blood pressure measurements are consistently too high. While high blood pressure itself is not considered to be heart disease, it can cause heart disease or other serious cardiovascular issues and be a major risk factor for having a heart attack if left uncontrolled. High blood pressure often can be a condition that you don't even know you have. That's why it's so important to know your numbers and monitor them on a regular basis. When it comes to measuring blood pressure, here's what the numbers mean:

Systolic pressure (the top number) measures pressure in your arteries during heartbeats.
Diastolic pressure (the bottom number) measures pressure in your arteries between heartbeats.

Blood pressure categories include:

Normal: Less than 120/80 mm Hg
Elevated: Top number (systolic) between 120-129 and bottom number (diastolic) less than 80
Stage 1 Hypertension (high blood pressure): Systolic between 130-139 or diastolic between 80-89
Stage 2 Hypertension (high blood pressure): Systolic at least 140 or diastolic at least 90 mm Hg
Hypertensive crisis: Top number over 180 and/or bottom number over 120, with patients needing prompt changes in medication if there are no other symptoms, or immediate hospitalization if there are signs of organ damage

Aside from high blood pressure, many other factors could be increasing your risk for developing heart disease. Take our free heart health assessment to learn your heart's real age and what you can do now to reduce your risk of developing heart disease in the future.

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Why Choose Us?

We know it can be concerning to suspect you may have a heart issue, especially if your symptoms don't immediately point to an obvious diagnosis. At Laredo Medical Center, we get to the heart of the matter by providing a wide spectrum of cardiac services from screening and evaluation to helping you maintain a more heart-healthy lifestyle and improve your overall health. The heart and vascular team is comprised of multi-specialty cardiac professionals from diverse backgrounds who are dedicated to providing the highest quality of cardiac care in Laredo, Texas, with more than 60 years of experience.

As a Primary Stroke Center and an Accredited Chest Pain Center, we use established best practices in heart care to help our patients receive accurate diagnoses. Our diagnostic and imaging capabilities help us to identify heart disease early, when it's most treatable. And, in the event that critical heart care is needed, our approach focuses on providing timely care to minimize heart damage and reduce the disruption to your life, all while helping you understand how best to implement a treatment plan that meets your specific heart care needs.

In addition, our facilities include interventional cardiology suites with updated technology to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of a range of patient conditions, including procedures for diagnostic catheterizations, stenting and balloon angioplasty. These suites allow us to offer electrophysiology services for the treatment of arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation (AFib).

About Our Services

The cardiac team at Laredo Medical Center offers a range of services including:

Cardiac screening and evaluation testing: cardiac stress test, dobutamine stress testing and echocardiogram
24- and 48-hour heart monitoring/electrocardiogram
Arterial blood gas (ABG) testing
Cardiac catheterization labs
Electrophysiology studies
Specialized treatment for heart rhythm disorders, such as AFib, including cardioversions
Pulmonary function testing, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management and asthma management
Cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgery
Education and exercise-based heart and vascular rehabilitation

Laredo Medical Center is a Primary Stroke Center and an Accredited Chest Pain Center v6 with Primary PCI (Percutaneous Coronary Interventions), accredited by the American College of Cardiology.

Heart Healthy Resources

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