What does high blood pressure and slow heart beat mean ?
Long-standing high blood pressure can damage the heart and blood vessels. When pressure in the arteries is increased above 140/90 mm Hg, the heart enlarges and the heart’s walls thicken because the heart has to work harder to pump blood. The thickened walls are stiffer than normal. Consequently, the heart’s chambers do not expand normally and are harder to fill with blood, further increasing the heart’s workload. These changes in the heart may result in abnormal heart rhythms (see Abnormal Heart Rhythms: Introduction) and heart failure (see Heart Failure). High blood pressure causes thickening of the walls of blood vessels and also makes them more likely to develop hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). When these things have occurred, people are at risk of stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure.
