High blood pressure is a very common illness shared by many around the planet, It is caused by the pressure of your blood pressing against the lining of your artery walls is forceful enough to eventually cause health problems, such as weakening of the arteries and / or heart disease.

Your Blood pressure is measured by the volume of blood pumped by your heart and the resistance to flow of blood in your arterial walls. The more blood pumped by your heart along with the constriction your arteries, the higher your blood pressure will be.

One can have e high blood pressure for many years without showing any symptoms at all. Unless it is controlled, high blood pressure AKA (hypertension) can increase your risk of serious health issues, like heart attack and stroke.

High blood pressure often develops over many years, and it strikes eventually much of the population. The good news is that high blood pressure can be detected easily. After you discover that you have high blood pressure, you and your doctor can work together to control it.

Symptoms of High Blood Pressure

Usually, those with high blood pressure will not show any signs or symptoms, even when a persons blood pressure numbers attain dangerously high readings.

In the beginning stages some people with high blood pressure may have mild and dull headaches, spells with dizziness or possibly nosebleeds Many of these signs and symptoms usually will not manifest themselves until their blood pressure has reached a critical or even life threatening stage.

Make sure have your doctor take your blood pressure a routine as part of your doctor’s visit.

Request that your doctor taker your blood pressure reading at least once a years beginning at age 20 or younger. Your Doctor will probably want to take blood pressure readings more often if you’ve already have high blood pressure or other problems with cardiovascular disease. Most Children age 3 and older will usually have their blood pressure taken at their examinations each year.

If you cant afford regular medical care, you might find free blood pressure screening at local health fairs or other free locations in your local community health clinics. Some Drug and grocery stores have free machines that will measure your blood pressure, but make sure these machines give accurate results. You can also purchase inexpensive, simple yet accurate personal measurement devices at many local stores.

There are two types of high blood pressure.

Primary (essential) hypertension

This type of high blood pressure, tends to develop gradually over many years.
Usually, there’s no specific cause of this type of high blood pressure.

Secondary hypertension
This type of high blood pressure is caused by an existing condition. Secondary hypertension, tends to appear suddenly without warning and can cause higher blood pressure than primary hypertension will. Different medical problems, conditions and drug medications can help cause secondary hypertension. Among them are:

Adrenal gland tumors

Some (congenital) defects in blood vessels

Medications, such as birth control pills, cold remedies, decongestants, over-the-counter pain relievers as well as some prescription drugs

Illegal drugs, including cocaine and amphetamines

Kidney problems

(Hypertension), AKA High blood pressure has many risk factors, including the following:

Your Age contributes. The chances of developing high blood pressure increases as you get older.

Being overweight or obese. The heaver you are, the more blood you require to feed oxygen and nutrition to your body. As the amount of blood that is circulated through your blood vessels increases and so does the pressure on your artery s.

High blood pressure is more common in men during early middle age,. Women are prone to develop high blood pressure later in life after they go through menopause.

Your Race plays a part. High blood pressure is generally more common among African Americans, often starting at an earlier age than in whites. Serious problems, ie, stroke and heart attack, also are more common in African Americans.

High blood pressure tends to run in families. Research your family history.

Exercise and Physical activity. Exercise is one of the most Important things one can do to combat High Blood Pressure. Those who are have sedentary lifestyles, generally have faster heart rates. The faster your heart rate is, the faster your heart must beat and harder it must work. The harder your heart pumps, the stronger the pressure is on your arteries which can weaken them. Lack of exercise also increases the risk of being overweight.

Tobacco use. Smoking or chewing tobacco immediately raises your blood pressure for a while and the chemicals in tobacco can damage your your artery walls. This can cause your arteries to constrict and increase blood pressure. Breathing second hand smoke can also raise your blood pressure.

Too much salt (sodium) in your diet. Too much sodium in your diet can cause your body to retain fluid, which increases blood pressure.

A potassium deficiency. Potassium assists in balancing the sodium in your body. A potassium deficiency in your diet or the failure to retain adequate potassium can cause you to accumulate an abundance of sodium in your blood.

Alcohol Abuse. Over time, heavy drinking can damage your heart. Having more than two or three drinks at a time can raise your blood pressure temporarily and could cause you to release hormones that increase your heart rate.

Excessive Stress. Excessive stress can cause a temporary, but dramatic, rise in your blood pressure. Attempting to relax by over eating, using tobacco or drinking alcohol, may only cause additional problems with your high blood pressure.

Chronic conditions. Chronic conditions such as high cholesterol, diabetes, kidney disease and sleep apnea can also increase your risk of high blood pressure,

Pregnancy can also contribute to high blood pressure.

High blood pressure is mostly strikes in adults, but children can also be at risk. In children, high blood pressure is usually caused by problems with their kidneys and or heart, but these days for an increasing number of children, poor lifestyle habits such as unhealthy diets, fast food, processed foods and lack of exercise are contributing factors to high blood pressure in children.

The Complications of High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure can damage your blood vessels, as well as organs in your body due to the excessive pressure on your artery walls. The higher your blood pressure is and the longer it remains unchecked and controlled, the more damage that will be done to your blood vessels.

High blood pressure can cause a number of conditions including:

Heart attack and or Stroke. High blood pressure often causes hardening and thickening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), this can bring on a heart attack, stroke and or other life threatening conditions.

Aneurysm. High blood pressure can weaken your blood vessels cause them to bulge out and create an aneurysm. If one of these aneurysms ruptures, it can kill you dead!

Heart failure. In order to pump blood against the higher blood pressure in your blood vessles, the heart muscle begins to thicken. As a result, the thickened heart muscle will have a harder time pumping the blood required for your body’s needs, which can eventually cause heart failure.

Weakened and narrowed blood vessels in your kidneys, which can keep your Kidneys from normal function .

Metabolic syndrome. This is a group of disorders of your metabolism, which includes increased waist size, elevated triglycerides, lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL), AKA, “good,” cholesterol, high blood pressure, and increased insulin levels. Those with high blood pressure, have an increased chance of having other disorders associated with metabolic syndrome.These increased disorders give you a greater risk of developing diabetes, heart disease or stroke. The more disorders you have, the greater the risk.

Vision Loss. Vision Loss can result from thickened, narrowed or torn blood vessels your eyes.

Memory Loss or difficulty understanding. High Blood Pressure can affect your ability to think, remember and learn properly. Problems with memory and or understanding are common in those with High Blood Pressure.