High blood pressure is sometimes referred to as the "silent killer" because in its initial stages there tend to be no signs or symptoms to show that someone has elevated blood pressure levels. Unfortunately, unless they have their blood pressure monitored on a regular basis, they only know they have it when certain high blood pressure symptons start to manifest if the condition begins to worsen.

The complications of high blood pressure can be grave, including an increased risk of a stroke, heart attacks, heart failure and kidney failure.

In some cases a person may not realize they have had high blood pressure for many years, and in mildly elevated blood pressure this may not lead to any lasting damage. The only real way of being able to diagnose effectively if a person is suffering from high blood pressure is by having it monitored on a regular basis.

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There are a number of ways this can be done either you visit your doctor or health professional and they will carry out the test or you can do it at home using a home blood pressure monitoring kit. However if you are looking to be provided with an accurate reading as well as ways of helping to treat the condition then the best thing you should do is arrange for regular readings to take place at your doctor's surgery.

For those that do suffer symptoms with high blood pressure, or those where the blood pressure levels have reached a severe state then they may find that they suffer with the following symptoms:

1. Headaches (more than normal). This is because not enough oxygen is being able to gain access to your brain through the blood being pumped around your body. For many people this is because their arteries and veins have become constricted and so it makes it much more difficult for the heart to pump blood around the body.

2. Dizzy spells - Again caused by insufficient oxygen being supplied to the brain.

3. Shortness of Breath

4. Blurred Vision

5. Nosebleeds

Unfortunately, many people really do not know if they have a problem, and so they risk damaging arteries and potentially damage to the major organs in the body. In fact, it is believed that up to a third of all the people who have hypertension are not diagnosed and are unaware they are suffering with the condition.

It is therefore essential that those people over the age of 40, who suffer from diabetes or other serious conditions including heart problems or if there is a history of high blood pressure in their family are made completely aware of what high blood pressure symptoms are. In this way they will be able to react much more quickly and seek their doctor's advice if they think at any stage that their blood pressure has risen above what is considered to be normal.

Also, everyone should have their blood pressure monitored on a regular basis, even those that are not considered as high risk and are not showing any high blood pressure symptons.