What is the Difference Between Hypertension and Atherosclerosis

The key difference between hypertension and atherosclerosis is that hypertension is a condition that causes high blood pressure, while atherosclerosis is a condition where the arteries become narrowed, making it difficult for blood to flow through them.

Atherosclerosis is the plaque build-up in the arteries. When this happens, the blood flow to the heart is disturbed. Ultimately, it causes coronary artery disease (CAD). Hypertension or high blood pressure can lead to CAD as it adds force to the artery walls. Therefore, hypertension is a risk factor for atherosclerosis.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Hypertension 
3. What is Atherosclerosis
4. Similarities – Hypertension and Atherosclerosis
5. Hypertension vs Atherosclerosis in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Hypertension vs Atherosclerosis

What is Hypertension?

Hypertension is a condition that causes high blood pressure, which is higher than the normal value of 120/80 mmHg. Blood pressure is recorded with two numbers. The systolic pressure or higher number is the force at which the heart pumps blood around the body. The diastolic pressure or lower number is the resistance to the blood flow in blood vessels. Blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or 150/90 Hgmm is considered to be a hypertension situation. Having hypertension can increase the risk of heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, peripheral arterial disease, aortic aneurysms, kidney disease, and vascular dementia.

The common symptoms of hypertension include morning headache, nosebleeds, vision changes, buzzing in the ears, nausea, vomiting, confusion, anxiety, chest pain, and muscle tremors. The causes of hypertension are being overweight, eating too much salt, not enough exercise, drinking too much alcohol, smoking, disturbed sleep patterns, aging (age over 65), having a family history, having a Black African or Caribbean descent, and living in a deprived area.

Moreover, hypertension is diagnosed through physical examination, ambulatory monitoring, lab tests, electrocardiogram (ECG), and echocardiogram. Hypertension can be treated through lifestyle remedies (reducing the amount of salt, cutting back on alcohol, losing weight, exercising regularly, cutting down on caffeine, and stopping smoking) and medicines (ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, calcium channel blockers, diuretics, beta-blockers, and alpha-blockers).

What is Atherosclerosis?

Atherosclerosis is a condition where arteries become narrowed and make it difficult for the blood to flow through them. Atherosclerosis ultimately leads to coronary artery disease (CAD). The symptoms of atherosclerosis include chest pain, pain in arms and legs, especially while exercising, short breath, tiredness, weakness, and feeling confused. The causes of atherosclerosis are aging (being over 65), smoking, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, and a family history of cardiovascular disease.

Atherosclerosis can be diagnosed through blood tests, electrocardiograms, heart imaging tests, coronary calcium scans, stress tests, and ankle-brachial index (ABI) tests. Furthermore, treatment options for atherosclerosis include lower cholesterol (statins), blood pressure (ACE inhibitors), blood clots (anticoagulants), diabetes (insulin), surgery, and lifestyle changes (healthy eating, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, and sugar control).

What are the Similarities Between Hypertension and Atherosclerosis?

• Hypertension and atherosclerosis are connected to coronary artery disease (CAD).
• Hypertension is a risk factor for atherosclerosis.
• Both conditions may have similar symptoms, like chest pain, headache, confusion, and vision changes.
• They can be diagnosed through blood tests.

What is the Difference Between Hypertension and Atherosclerosis?

Hypertension is a condition that causes high blood pressure, while atherosclerosis is a condition where the arteries become narrowed, making it difficult for blood to flow through them. Thus, this is the key difference between hypertension and atherosclerosis. Furthermore, the common symptoms of hypertension include morning headache, nosebleeds, vision changes, buzzing in the ears, nausea, vomiting, confusion, anxiety, chest pain, and muscle tremors. On the other hand, the common symptoms of atherosclerosis include chest pain, pain in the arms and legs, especially while exercising, short breath, tiredness, weakness, and feeling confused.

The below infographic presents the differences between hypertension and atherosclerosis in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Hypertension vs Atherosclerosis

Hypertension and atherosclerosis are two conditions connected to CAD. Prolonged hypertension can cause atherosclerosis. Hypertension refers to high blood pressure, which is higher than normal. In contrast, atherosclerosis is a condition where the arteries become narrowed, which makes it difficult for blood to flow through them. So, this is the key difference between hypertension and atherosclerosis.

Reference:

1. “High Blood Pressure – Hypertension.” NHS Choices, NHS.
2. “Arteriosclerosis / Atherosclerosis.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Complications of hypertension white background” By Mikael Häggström – File: Main complications of persistent high blood pressure.svg (CC0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “2113ab Atherosclerosis” By OpenStax College – Anatomy & Physiology, Connexions Web site, Jun 19, 2013. (CC BY 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia