High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure occurs when the pressure within blood vessels is too high. People with an average blood pressure reading of more than 140/90 are considered to have high blood pressure. Chronic high blood pressure can lead to serious health problems, such as heart attack and kidney failure. Risk factors for high blood pressure include obesity, being physically inactive, and consuming too much sodium.
High Blood Pressure: An Introduction
Blood pressure is a measure of the pressure inside your blood vessels -- both while the heart is beating and while it is relaxed. High blood pressure, as you might guess, is when the pressure within your blood vessels is too high. This is also known as hypertension.
About 65 million American adults -- nearly 1 in 3 -- have high blood pressure.
Why Is Blood Pressure Important?
Blood pressure is the amount of force (pressure) that blood exerts on the walls of the blood vessels as it passes through them. As blood is pumped from your heart into your blood vessels, enough pressure is created to send it to all other parts of your body. As blood vessels travel away from the heart, they branch off and gradually get smaller, just like the branches of a tree. One branch may go to the brain while another may go to your kidneys. Blood pressure keeps the blood flowing through all these branches so that your body's cells get the oxygen and nutrients they need and waste matter can be removed.
Causes of High Blood Pressure
In most people, the specific cause or causes of high blood pressure are not known. This is called primary or essential hypertension. In other people, high blood pressure is the result of another medical problem or medicine. When the cause of high blood pressure is known, this is called secondary high blood pressure or secondary hypertension.
If a person is diagnosed with high blood pressure, it doesn't mean that he or she is "too nervous," overanxious, or obsessive. This is a popular myth. High blood pressure is not nervous tension. In fact, many people who are perfectly calm have high blood pressure. |
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