What is high blood pressure?
Blood pressure is determined both by the amount of blood your
heart pumps and dump the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The
more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries, the higher your
blood pressure. A blood pressure reading is given in millimeters of mercury. It has two numbers.
High blood pressure is a common condition in which the long-term
force of the blood against your artery walls is high enough that it may
eventually cause health problems, such as heart disease.
What causes of high blood pressure?
The exact 10 important causes of high blood pressure.
- Smoking
- Lack of physical activity
- Too much salt in the diet
- Too much alcohol consumption (more than 2 to 4
drinks per day)
- Stress
- Older age
- Genetics
- Family history of high blood pressure
- Chronic kidney disease
- Sleep apnea
There are two types of
high blood pressure.
1.
Primary
hypertension
For most adults, there's no identifiable cause of high blood
pressure. This type of high blood pressure, called primary (essential)
hypertension, tends to develop gradually over many years.
2.
Secondary
hypertension
Some people have high
blood pressure caused by an underlying condition. This type of high blood
pressure, called secondary hypertension, tends to appear suddenly and cause
higher blood pressure than does primary hypertension. Various conditions and
medications can lead to secondary hypertension, including:
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Kidney disease
- Adrenal gland tumors
- Thyroid problems
- Certain defects you're born
with (congenital) in blood vessels
- Certain medications, such as
birth control pills, cold remedies, decongestants, over-the-counter pain
relievers and some prescription drugs
- Illegal drugs, such as cocaine
and amphetamines
Risky factors of highblood pressure.
High blood pressure
has many risk factors, including:
a)
Age. The risk of high blood pressure
increases as you age. Until about age 64, high blood pressure is more common in
men. Women are more likely to develop high blood pressure after age 65.
b)
Race. High blood pressure is particularly
common among people of African heritage, often developing at an earlier age
than it does in whites. Serious complications, such as stroke, heart attack and
kidney failure, also are more common in people of African heritage.
c)
Family
history. High blood
pressure tends to run in families.
d)
Being
overweight or obese. The more you
weigh, the more blood you need to supply oxygen and nutrients to your tissues.
As the amount of blood flow through your blood vessels increases, so does the
pressure on your artery walls.
e)
Not
being physically active. People
who are inactive tend to have higher heart rates. The higher your heart rate,
the harder your heart must work with each contraction and the stronger the
force on your arteries. Lack of physical activity also increases the risk of
being overweight.
f)
Using
tobacco. Not only does
smoking or chewing tobacco immediately raise your blood pressure temporarily,
but the chemicals in tobacco can damage the lining of your artery walls. This
can cause your arteries to narrow and increase your risk of heart disease.
Secondhand smoke also can increase your heart disease risk.
g)
Too
much salt (sodium) in your diet. Too much sodium in your diet can cause your body to retain
fluid, which increases blood pressure.
h)
Too
little potassium in your diet. Potassium helps balance the amount of sodium in your
cells. A proper balance of potassium is critical for good heart health. If you
don't get enough potassium in your diet, or you lose too much potassium due to
dehydration or other health conditions, sodium can build up in your blood.
i)
Drinking
too much alcohol. Over time, heavy
drinking can damage your heart. Having more than one drink a day for women and
more than two drinks a day for men may affect your blood pressure.
i. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. For
healthy adults, that means up to one drink a day for women and two drinks a day
for men. One drink equals 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of
80-proof liquor.
j)
Stress. High levels of stress can lead to a
temporary increase in blood pressure. Stress-related habits such as eating
more, using tobacco or drinking alcohol can lead to further increases in blood
pressure.
k)
Certain
chronic conditions. Certain chronic
conditions also may increase your risk of high blood pressure, including kidney
disease, diabetes and sleep apnea.
Sometimes pregnancy
contributes to high blood pressure as well.
Although high blood
pressure is most common in adults, children may be at risk, too. For some
children, high blood pressure is caused by problems with the kidneys or heart.
But for a growing number of kids, poor lifestyle habits — such as an unhealthy
diet and lack of exercise — contribute to high blood pressure.
Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to complications including.
- Heart attack or stroke. High blood pressure can cause hardening and
thickening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), which can lead to a heart
attack, stroke or other complications.
- Aneurysm. Increased blood pressure can cause your blood
vessels to weaken and bulge, forming an aneurysm. If an aneurysm ruptures,
it can be life-threatening.
- Weakened and narrowed blood
vessels in your kidneys. This
can prevent these organs from functioning normally.
- Thickened, narrowed or torn
blood vessels in the eyes. This
can result in vision loss.
- Heart failure. To pump blood against the higher pressure in your
vessels, the heart has to work harder. This causes the walls of the
heart's pumping chamber to thicken (left ventricular hypertrophy).
Eventually, the thickened muscle may have a hard time pumping enough blood
to meet your body's needs, which can lead to heart failure.
- Metabolic syndrome. This syndrome is a group of disorders of your
body's metabolism, including increased waist size, high triglycerides,
decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good"
cholesterol), high blood pressure and high insulin levels. These
conditions make you more likely to develop diabetes, heart disease and
stroke.
- Trouble with memory or understanding. Uncontrolled high blood pressure may also affect
your ability to think, remember and learn. Trouble with memory or
understanding concepts is more common in people with high blood pressure.
- Dementia. Narrowed or blocked arteries can limit blood flow
to the brain, leading to a certain type of dementia (vascular dementia). A
stroke that interrupts blood flow to the brain also can cause vascular
dementia.
Symptoms
Most
people with high blood pressure have no signs or symptoms, even if blood
pressure readings reach dangerously high levels.
A
few people with high blood pressure may have headaches, shortness of breath or
nosebleeds, but these signs and symptoms aren't specific and usually don't
occur until high blood pressure has reached a severe or life-threatening stage.
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