High blood pressure
Key points
- Hypertension (high blood pressure) is when your blood pressure frequently goes over 140/90.
- High blood pressure can affect all types of people.
- Most of the time, no cause is identified and this is called essential hypertension.
- For high blood pressure caused by essential hypertension or if you have prehypertesion, a proper diet, weight loss, exercise, and salt and alcohol reduction are often recommended.
Alternative names
HBP; Blood pressure - high
Definition
Hypertension (high blood pressure) is when your blood pressure frequently goes over 140/90.
Pre-hypertension is blood pressure readings from 120-139 over 80-89 on most measurements. 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.
Considerations
High blood pressure can affect all types of people. 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 90-95% 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 modification and medications.
Lifestyle modification includes 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.
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.
Common Causes
Most of the time, no cause is identified and this is called essential hypertension. Other times, there may be an identifiable reason why your blood pressure is high. This is called secondary hypertension. Some of the secondary reasons why you may have high blood pressure are as follows:
- 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
Home Care
For high blood pressure caused by essential hypertension or if you have prehypertesion, a proper diet, weight loss, exercise, and salt and alcohol reduction are often recommended. If these measures alone are not enough, your health care provider will talk to you about taking medication to lower your blood pressure.
Written and revised by
Andrey Nailor, M.D.
Our doctors write and review articles for accuracy and keep them up to date.
health.am provides general information, not medical advice. Always consult a qualified health professional about your own health.