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What Is Hypertension
By peace | May 13, 2006
The World Health Organization’s definition of hypertension is when your measure of blood pressure at rest is persistently equal to or higher than 140/90 mmHg. Your blood pressure may be elevated if you are emotionally agitated or just after exercise and should not be counted as having hypertension. But if your blood pressure remains elevated when measured at three different times, this is considered high blood pressure, and you should seek your doctor’s advice.
Once thought to merely represent an elevation of blood pressure, medical science is starting to recognize that hypertension is a systemic disorder involving many biochemical and physiologic abnormalities, including alterations in blood volume, cardiac output (the amount of blood the heart pumps each minute), kidney function, and cellular resistance to the effects of insulin. Whether there is one yet to be discovered cause of hypertension, or many, is unknown.
It is estimated that nearly 50 million Americans have hypertension, involving almost 20% of all adults and over 60% of all senior citizens. The frequency of hypertension increases with increasing age and body weight, and is higher in african-americans than Caucasians. Half of patients suffering their first heart attack are hypertensive and two thirds of patients suffering their first stroke are significantly hypertensive.
Whether a person’s hypertension is graded as mild (140/90-159/99), moderate (160/100-179/109), or severe (180/110-209/109), there is an increased risk of “end-organ” damage (stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure) when compared to people with normal pressures.
Your heart beats about 100,000 times a day. Each time your heart beats, blood is pumped through the various blood vessels in your body. Your blood pressure is defined as the pressure the blood exerts on the vessel walls. If the pressure is too low, the blood may not reach certain areas of the body. If the blood pressure is too high, the heart and blood vessel walls may be damaged.
Hypertension is a condition where the blood pressure is constantly higher than normal. This poses a serious health risk because it forces the heart to work extra hard. The effects of hypertension include strokes and heart attacks.
One in four Americans suffer from hypertension. This astounding statistic is due in large part to various contributing factors, such as smoking, a diet rich in fat and cholesterol, and stress. African Americans and people with a family history of hypertension are at a greater risk for developing high blood pressure. In 95 percent of hypertension cases, the cause is unknown. Experts are aware of contributing factors that increase the chances of developing hypertension, but no one has been able to determine a direct link between the factors and developing high blood pressure.
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