See And Sex Life Affected By Hypertension

See And Sex Life Affected By Hypertension

Hypertension increases the risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes, but it doesn’t stop there either. People with hypertension also have higher chances of damage to their eyes and sex lives, a sad fact that should encourage you to seek proper treatment ASAP.

Losing Your Sense of Sight

Your eyes have a complex network of tiny and delicate blood vessels that supply blood to the organ. But like other blood vessels, these can also be damaged by high blood pressure in several ways.

  • Retinopathy refers to the damage to the blood vessels in the eyes. This results in blurred vision, bleeding in the affected eye, and complete loss of vision. You don’t want the latter happening in your case, especially when you value your sense of sight more than any other of your five senses.  
  • Choroidopathy is the buildup of fluids under your retina due to a leaky blood vessel. This buildup can cause distorted vision and even scar in the eye area that impairs vision.  
  • Optic neuropathy damages the optic nerve, usually caused by a blocked blood vessel. This blocking can also result in bleeding within the affected eye and, when left untreated, vision loss.

While many medications, such as Xalatan, can alleviate the symptoms of these conditions, the adage about prevention being the best cure still applies. Therefore, you should work with your doctor in the effective management, if not treatment, of your hypertension.  

Losing Your Sex Drive

Although older men, usually 50 years and above, are more likely to experience erectile dysfunction (ED), the risk of ED increases with hypertension. Over time, the lining of the blood vessels becomes damaged by the high blood pressure resulting in hardened and narrowed arteries. The blood flow to the penis will also reduce, thus, the difficulty of attaining or maintaining erections until orgasm.  

Indeed, the issue of ED is common in men with hypertension. But it isn’t just men who can experience reduced sex drive due to hypertension – women get it, too. The decreased libido partly comes from the reduced blood flow to the vagina and vaginal dryness. So while lubrication, sex tools, and sexual stimulation can help, the treatment of hypertension should come first.  

Aside from losing your sense of sight and sex drive, you can also suffer from other health issues due to untreated hypertension. For example, you can lose excessive amounts of calcium, resulting in osteoporosis, and lose sleep because of your risk of obstructive sleep apnea, too.