Many people call high blood pressure or hypertension a silent killer. This is because you can have it for years without knowing it. In fact, according to studies, there are about 50 million Americans who have high blood pressure, but 30% of them do not know that they have it.

Ignorance of your own blood pressure can be 0. Some people are be very healthy one day, but only half of their body can move due to stroke caused by high blood pressure the next day.

High blood pressure has no symptoms. But if you feel a dull ache in the back of your head when you wake up one morning, or you have few more nosebleeds than normal, you could have a high blood pressure. Headaches, nosebleeds, and dizziness are also common warning signs and symptoms of high blood pressure, but these do not occur until high blood pressure has reached a more advanced stage. However, many people even with the highest blood pressure readings do not feel any of these symptoms.

There are other signs and symptoms that are associated with high blood pressure. Generally, these are caused by other conditions that can lead to high blood pressure. The signs and symptoms include muscle cramps, excessive perspiration, frequent urination, weakness, and rapid or irregular heartbeat or often called palpitations. In rare cases, blood pressure rises quickly which results in malignant or accelerated hypertension. So you should be on the look out for these symptoms and call a physician immediately if you experience drowsiness, confusion, headache, nausea and loss of vision.

Since high blood pressure has no particular signs and symptoms, it is important for anyone with risk factors to have their blood pressure checked regularly and to make appropriate lifestyle changes. If you have family histories of hypertension or if you are overweight, you better check your blood pressure regularly to prevent serious health problems.