Uncontrolled hypertension (high blood pressure) can damage your blood vessels and make your heart work harder over time. It can also cause atherosclerosis, which is plaque buildup in your arteries, raising your risk of heart attack or stroke.

Protecting your heart health starts with understanding how high blood pressure can affect your heart and blood vessels.

Here’s what you need to know about uncontrolled hypertension, including how it affects your heart and when to get medical attention for a hypertensive emergency.

How Does Persistent High Blood Pressure Affect Your Heart?

When your arteries are healthy, their inner walls are smooth. Smooth artery walls help blood flow easily throughout your body and carry oxygen and nutrients to your organs. Healthy blood vessels are also flexible and strong, which helps keep blood flowing normally.

Hypertension damages the walls of your blood vessels. It can narrow your arteries and allow fats to collect in the damaged areas. Over time, this buildup can make your arteries less flexible and reduce blood flow.

High blood pressure can make aneurysms more likely to form. An aneurysm is a bulge in the wall of an artery. Aneurysms often form in the aorta, the body’s largest artery. If one bursts, it can cause internal bleeding.

Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to irregular heartbeats, called arrhythmias, as well as an enlarged heart. This extra work can also cause your heart to thicken and get bigger, especially in the left ventricle. When this happens, your risk of heart attack and heart failure rises.

What Are the Consequences of Uncontrolled Hypertension?

Uncontrolled hypertension can lead to several health issues, including heart attack, stroke, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and atherosclerosis.

Here’s a closer look at how high blood pressure can cause heart complications:

• Heart attack — Hypertension can lead to blockages in your arteries that prevent blood from reaching your heart muscle. When this happens, it can cause a heart attack.
• Heart failure — When you have high blood pressure, your heart muscle has to work harder, which can cause your heart to get bigger and thicker. This makes it difficult for your heart to pump blood to the rest of your body, which can lead to heart failure in severe cases.
• Atherosclerosis — Hypertension can damage your arteries and allow plaque to build up. Over time, the arteries may become narrow and stiff, making it harder for blood to flow.
• Coronary artery disease — When atherosclerosis occurs in arteries that supply the heart, the condition is called coronary artery disease (CAD). Blood has more trouble flowing through these narrowed blood vessels.
• Stroke — Hypertension can affect the blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to your brain. This damage can then lead to blockages or even cause blood vessels to burst.
• Arrhythmia — Having uncontrolled hypertension for a long time can raise your risk of irregular heartbeats.

Uncontrolled hypertension can cause other health complications beyond your heart. Possible complications include:

• Kidney disease — When your arteries are damaged by hypertension, it can make it harder for your kidneys to filter blood correctly. This can lead to kidney disease and even kidney failure.
• Vision changes or loss — The blood vessels in your eyes can be affected by high blood pressure. The changes in blood flow can strain and damage your eyes or even cause blindness.
• Sexual dysfunction — Damage to blood vessels can lead to lower sex drive and erectile dysfunction (not being able to have an erection).

Why You Should Treat Hypertension

Hypertension is a preventable and treatable risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that better blood pressure control could potentially prevent more than 115,000 deaths from heart and blood vessel disease, more than 91,000 heart attacks, and 139,000 strokes over five years.

Controlling your blood pressure starts with getting regular physicals from a healthcare provider, making recommended lifestyle changes, and staying in touch with your doctor to monitor how your blood pressure treatment plan is working.

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On MyHeartDiseaseTeam, people share their experiences with heart disease, get advice, and find support from others who understand.

If you have uncontrolled high blood pressure, what have you done to try to lower your blood pressure? Let others know in the comments below.