High blood pressure is the chronic increase in blood pressure. It is a disease that has no symptoms and, if untreated, can lead to severe complications such as myocardial infarction, cerebral thrombosis or hemorrhage, which can be avoided if properly controlled. The first consequences of suffering from high blood pressure is thickening of the arteries. These harden as supporting blood flow continues, which hinders the passage of blood. This is known as atherosclerosis. Either of these reasons is considered a major reason to see your local Family Practice Physician in Andover Kansas.
Blood pressure has just two components: The systolic (or top) is the highest number. It represents tension generated when the heart pumps blood to the body. The diastolic pressure (or bottom) is the lowest. It refers to the overall blood vessel pressure between heartbeats. It is measured in mercury millimeters (mmHg). High blood pressure (HBP) is identified when these numbers are high. It is also known as hypertension.
Causes
The most common mechanism of blood pressure, known as “essential hypertension”, “primary” or “idiopathic” is unknown. Doctors separate those causes related to inheritance, sex, age and race and therefore become slightly modified, from those that could be changed by varying habits. These consist of things like obesity, sensitivity sodium, excessive alcohol consumption, use of oral contraceptives, and a very sedentary life.
* Inheritance
* : When transmitted from parent to offspring, a tendency or predisposition to high blood pressure is inherited. Its exact mechanism is unknown, but past experience shows that when a parent (or both) is hypertensive, the chances of the child developing hypertension are doubled.
* Gender
* : Men are more prone to develop high blood pressure than women until women reach the age of menopause. From this stage the frequency is equal in both sexes. This is because nature has endowed women with protective hormones while in childbearing age, estrogen, and therefore have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
Age is another factor that will influence blood pressure, and it is something that will increase over the years. As for race, black individuals are twice as likely to develop hypertension over whites, besides having a worse prognosis. Overweight individuals are more likely to have higher blood pressure than normal-weight individuals. As weight increases blood pressure rises and this is much more evident in the under 40 and women. For more information, visit Wichita Family Medicine Specialists LLC today.
