High Blood Pressure Causes, Signs, Symptoms and Complications
What Causes High Blood Pressure?
Blood pressure tends to rise with age, unless you take steps to prevent or control it.
Certain medical problems, such as chronic kidney disease, thyroid disease, and sleep apnea, may cause blood pressure to rise. Certain medicines, such as asthma medicines (for example, corticosteroids) and cold-relief products, also may raise blood pressure.
In some women, blood pressure can go up if they use birth control pills, become pregnant, or take hormone replacement therapy.
Women taking birth control pills usually have a small rise in both systolic and diastolic blood pressures. If you already have high blood pressure (HBP) and want to use birth control pills, make sure your doctor knows about your HBP. Talk to him or her about how often you should have your blood pressure checked and how to control it while taking the pill.
Taking hormones to reduce the symptoms of menopause can cause a small rise in systolic blood pressure. If you already have HBP and want to start using hormones, talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits. If you decide to take hormones, find out how to control your blood pressure and how often you should have it checked.
Children younger than 10 years who have HBP often have another condition that’s causing it (such as kidney disease). Treating the underlying condition may resolve the HBP.
The older a child is when HBP is diagnosed, the more likely he or she is to have essential hypertension. This means that doctors don’t know what’s causing the HBP.
Who Is At Risk for High Blood Pressure?
In the United States, about 72 million people have high blood pressure (HBP). This is about 1 in 3 adults.
Certain traits, conditions, or habits are known to raise the risk for HBP. These conditions are called risk factors. This section describes the major risk factors for HBP.
Older Age
Blood pressure tends to rise with age. If you’re a male older than 45 or a female older than 55, your risk for HBP is higher. Over half of all Americans aged 60 and older have HBP.
Isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) is the most common form of HBP in older adults. ISH occurs when only systolic blood pressure (the top number) is high. About 2 out of 3 people over age 60 who have HBP have ISH.
HBP doesn’t have to be a routine part of aging. You can take steps keep your blood pressure at a normal level.
Race/Ethnicity
HBP can affect anyone. However, it occurs more often in African American adults than in Caucasian or Hispanic American adults. In relation to these groups, African Americans:
- Tend to get HBP earlier in life
- Often have more severe HBP
- Are more likely to be aware that they have HBP and to get treatment
- Are less likely than Caucasians and about as likely as Hispanic Americans to achieve target control levels with HBP treatment
- Have higher rates than Caucasians of premature death from HBP-related complications, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure
HBP risks vary among different groups of Hispanic American adults. For instance, Puerto Rican American adults have higher rates of HBP-related death than all other Hispanic groups and Caucasians. But, Cuban Americans have lower rates than Caucasians.
Overweight or Obesity
You’re more likely to develop prehypertension or HBP if you’re overweight or obese. Overweight is having extra body weight from muscle, bone, fat, and/or water. Obesity is having a high amount of extra body fat.
Gender
Fewer adult women than men have HBP. But, younger women (aged 18–59) are more likely than men to be aware of and get treatment for HBP.
Women aged 60 and older are as likely as men to be aware of and treated for HBP. However, among treated women aged 60 and older, blood pressure control is lower than it is in men in the same age group.
Unhealthy Lifestyle Habits
A number of lifestyle habits can raise your risk for HBP, including:
- Eating too much sodium (salt)
- Drinking too much alcohol
- Not getting enough potassium in your diet
- Not doing enough physical activity
- Smoking
Other Risk Factors
A family history of HBP raises your risk for the condition. Long-lasting stress also can put you at risk for HBP.
You’re also more likely to develop HBP if you have prehypertension. Prehypertension means that your blood pressure is in the 120–139/80–89 mmHg range.
Risk Factors for Children and Teens
Overweight is on the rise in youth younger than 18 years. As a result, prehypertension and HBP also are becoming more common in this age group.
African American and Mexican American youth are more likely to have HBP and prehypertension than Caucasian youth. Also, boys are at higher risk for HBP than girls.
Like adults, children and teens need to have routine blood pressure checks. This is even more important if a young person is overweight.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of High Blood Pressure?
High blood pressure (HBP) itself usually has no symptoms. Rarely, headaches may occur.
You can have HBP for years without knowing it. During this time, HBP can damage the heart, blood vessels, kidneys, and other parts of the body.
Some people only learn that they have HBP after the damage has caused problems, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, or kidney failure.
Knowing your blood pressure numbers is important, even when you’re feeling fine. If your blood pressure is normal, you can work with your health care team to keep it that way. If your numbers are too high, you can take steps to lower them and control your blood pressure. This helps reduce your risk for complications.
Complications of High Blood Pressure
When blood pressure stays high over time, it can damage the body. HBP can cause:
- The heart to get larger or weaker, which may lead to heart failure. Heart failure is a condition in which the heart can’t pump enough blood throughout the body.
- Aneurysms (AN-u-risms) to form in blood vessels. An aneurysm is an abnormal bulge or “ballooning” in the wall of an artery. Common spots for aneurysms are the main artery that carries blood from the heart to the body; the arteries in the brain, legs, and intestines; and the artery leading to the spleen.
- Blood vessels in the kidney to narrow. This may cause kidney failure.
- Arteries throughout the body to narrow in some places, which limits blood flow (especially to the heart, brain, kidneys, and legs). This can cause a heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, or amputation of part of the leg.
- Blood vessels in the eyes to burst or bleed. This may lead to vision changes or blindness.
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