Q: I am a 36 years old male. I am having severe headache for past one month and recently my eyeballs also started paining. When I went for a check up I was told that my BP is 180/120 mmHg. What does 180/120 mean? What precaution do I take to control my blood pressure?

A:Your BP is extremely high and needs urgent treatment to lower it. The bigger number is the pressure inside your blood vessels when the heart contracts and the lower figure is the pressure when it relaxes. Both the pressures are high in your case. You also need to be investigated especially to see if a kidney problem or a narrowing of one of its arteries is the cause of your high blood pressure. You need the following tests apart from drugs to lower your blood pressure quickly:

1. Urine routine/microscopy
2. Serum creatnine/potassium
3. 24 hours urinary metanephrines
4. CT angiography for renal arteries and suprarenal masses or an ultrasound with renal Doppler for the same causes