Blood pressure is the force with which the blood presses
against the arterial walls as it circulates. In a person with
high blood pressure, or hypertension, this force is greater
than normal and causes the arterial walls to narrow and
thicken, putting extra strain on the heart.
Blood pressure
fluctuates even in healthy individuals. It tends to increase
with physical activity, excitement, fear, or emotional stress,
but such elevations are usually transient. Most physicians
will not make the diagnosis of hypertension unless the
pressure is high on at least three separate occasions.
Obesity, alcohol and sugar intake, and hereditary and
ethnic factors all contribute, as will diabetes, kidney
disease, and pregnancy. It is usually only when the
secondary complications—damage to the arteries, brain,
eyes, or elsewhere in the body—have developed that
symptoms occur, by which time the condition is serious.
Symptoms of High Blood Pressure
• Mild hypertension has no symptoms
• Severe hypertension: headaches, shortness of breath,
visual disturbances, giddiness
• In the U.S. at least 50 million people have hypertension
• Hypertension is usually described as being a systolic
pressure greater than 139, or a diastolic pressure
greater than 89, or both. The World Health
Organization defines it as being consistently above
160mm. Hg. systolic, and 95mm. Hg. diastolic
• In the U.K. high blood pressure is extremely common,
affecting 10–20 percent of the adult population
• High blood pressure is more frequent and more
severe in African Americans than in the white U.S.
population, and in both races in the south-eastern
United States than in the rest of the nation
• It is uncommon in children and adolescents
• In young adulthood and early middle age, high blood
pressure occurs more frequently in men than in
women; thereafter the reverse is true
• Hypertension occurs worldwide and is most prevalent
in Japan and northern China
• In societies that consume little or no salt the incidence
of hypertension is extremely low
CAUTION
Routine blood pressure checks should be undertaken
by everyone as a matter of course. Sustained high
blood pressure can cause severe damage to the heart,
kidneys, and eyes, and should not be ignored. Do not
take herbal remedies while taking conventional
medicine without consulting your physician.
