High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure which is medically referred to as Hypertension, HTN or HPN is a condition wherein the blood pressure is generally elevated. It is a serious condition that can lead to heart failure,coronary heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and other problems in one’s health. 

High blood pressure happens when a person's systolic blood pressure is consistently 140 mmHg or greater, and/or their diastolic blood pressure is consistently 90 mmHg or greater.

There are two classification of Hypertension: essential (primary) or secondary.  In Essential hypertension there is no specific medical cause that can be found to explain the condition of the patient. A secondary hypertension indicates that the high blood pressure is a result of or is secondary to a certain abnormality in one of the organs or systems of the body such as tumors or kidney disease.

Although no specific medical cause can be determined in essential hypertension yet certain associations have been recognized in people with this condition and there are common forms that have several contributing factors.

The contributing factors in having high blood pressure can be further classified as those that can’t be changed and those factors that can be changed.

Factors that can be changed include:

• Overweight (obesity) – Obesity is very closely related to high blood pressure and medical professionals strongly recommend that all overweight people with high blood pressure lose weight until they are within 15% of their healthy body weight.
• Sodium(salt) sensitivity – There are people that have high sensitivity to sodium or salt, and their blood pressure goes up if they use salt. Reducing the amount of sodium intake tends to lower their blood pressure.
• Alcohol – For those who are sensitive to alcohol, drinking more than one to two drinks of alcohol per day tends to raise blood pressure.
• Lack of exercise (physical inactivity) – A sluggish lifestyle contributes to the development of obesity and high blood pressure.
• Drugs – There are certain drugs, such as amphetamines (stimulants), diet pills, contraceptive pills, and some pills used for cold and allergy symptoms, tend to raise blood pressure.

Factors that can't be changed include:

Age – The older one get, the greater the risk of developing high blood pressure especially systolic, as your arteries gets stiffer, which is due to arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.

Socioeconomic status – High blood pressure is also more commonly observed among the less educated and lower socioeconomic groups.

Family history (heredity) – Family heredity tends to be a main factor in developing high blood pressure.

Gender – Generally, women are less likely to develop high blood pressure than men.