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High blood pressure

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High blood pressure

Definition:

Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). Hypertension (high blood pressure) is when your blood pressure frequently goes over 140/90 mm Hg.

A patient is considered "pre-hypertensive" if the top (systolic) number of the blood pressure reading is 120-139 mm Hg and if the bottom (diastolic) number is over 80-89 mm Hg on most measurements.

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If you have pre-hypertension, you are likely to develop high blood pressure at some point, unless you make lifestyle changes to lower your blood pressure to normal.

Alternative Names:
HBP; Blood pressure - high

Considerations:

High blood pressure can affect all types of people.

About 1 in every 5 adults in the U.S. has high blood pressure. High blood pressure occurs more often in men than in women, and in African Americans almost twice as often as in Caucasians.

Most people feel no symptoms with uncomplicated high blood pressure. Essential hypertension (hypertension with no known cause) is not fully understood, but accounts for between 80-85% of all hypertension cases in people over 45 years of age.

Even though many times high blood pressure does not have a known cause, the condition can still be treated effectively with both lifestyle changes and medications.

Lifestyle changes include following a low sodium diet, exercising, quitting smoking, losing weight, and avoiding excessive alcohol intake. There are dozens of different medications available for the management of high blood pressure.

Common Causes:

Most of the time, no cause is identified. This is called essential hypertension. High blood pressure that results from a specific condition, habit, or medication is called secondary hypertension. Some reasons for secondary hypertension include:

• Use of certain medications (such as appetite suppressants, cold preparations, and migraine medications)
• Habitual alcohol use
• Excess sodium (salt) in your diet
• Obesity
• Anxiety or stress
• Arteriosclerosis
• Coarctation of the aorta
• Pain
• Renal artery stenosis
• Diabetes
• Drugs such as alcohol toxicity or cocaine
• Renal disease

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