I do not agree with some physicians who say people cannot feel their b/p increase. I believe people who are in tuned with their body can tell when it becomes elevated. Keep in mind most people are ignorant of anything that concerns there body which is why they wait six months before they go to see a Dr when they have a lump on their neck.
I am speaking from experience. My b/p was 160/85 and is now controlled via hydrochlorothiazide. I can tell when it becomes high. I can feel it pulsing through my fingers.
I also work in the medical field and speak to clients who can tell when their b/p is running high before I take the measurement.
I believe most people cannot tell but some can. It is not uncommon when your b/p runs moderately high (160/90-180/110) you can feel your fingers throbbing, dizziness, head pulsating. Remember, this is a pressure inside your blood vessels. Kind of like when you are taking a 90 year olds pulse(normally their bp is very low b/c of numerous meds they are taking), (100/50) it is hard to find which is why we take it apically instead of radially. It can also be difficult to assess b/c of circulation problems. However, a person who is in cardiac arrest initially has tends to have elevated b/p and the pulse is jumping out of their wrist, no need for apical. There is an elevated pressure inside those vessels causing your heart to work harder to push the vital blood supply throughout your body.
The reason we call high b/p the silent killer is because relative mild hypertension with no symptoms causes long term damage to blood vessels (atherosclerotic plaque accumulation) (140/90). This damage is geared towards the main blood vessels that supply your vital organs blood. (heart, kidneys, and brain) That is why hypertension causes heart failure, renal failure, strokes, and impaired vision.
Your left ventricle has to work harder to circulate the blood to the vital organs thus causing hypertrophy of the left ventricle. Matching up with those who workout hard and heavy, our left ventricle is already enlarged somewhat and hypertension can be a disaster for us in the long run.
There are many hypothesis for why people develop high b/p like renin-angiotensin, decreased vasoldilation of the blood vessels(see any use for nitric oxide, I do, never did a comparison though), stress releasing hormones etc.
Another misconception about hypertension is smoking can cause high b/p. This is not true either. Smoking causes your blood vessels to become more brittle(arteriosclerosis not arthrosclerosis) This is long term damage and not noticed by the average person until the damage is done. However; moderate and severe hypertension can cause those brittle blood vessels to rupture more easily.
Now the JNC has specified they even want lower b/p of 135/85. In the next few years there will be many new people taking high blood pressure medications. Just to let anyone know, many doctors love to give out beta blockers like zestril; however; they have found good old diuretics are just as effects and you get the plus of never having a kidney stone. You piss like a race horse though. Sounds like the pharmaceutical companies need more money.
And the grocery store sphg's are really inaccurate for me b/c of the size of my arms. For some people with smaller, average arms those things are fine. A small cuff will cause inaccurate interpretation of both systolic and diastolic readings. I have to use a cuff designed for femoral bp. My arms are not even that big, maybe 18.5 inches. I have seen the nurse in the Dr. office use the small cuff, then I tell her to quit being lazy and go get the bigger cuff. When she does my bp is lower. I take my b/p at my house with a $300.00 Tyco sphyg with a lippencott stethoscope. I know my b/p better than the dr. I am also prone to white coat syndrome and can feel it raise when they put the damn thing on my arm in the office. It makes me laugh because I do this crap all day but I get nervous when it is getting done to me. Go figure.