What is Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)? And Why Should You Care?

 What is Hypertension and why should we take this so serious? Hypertension has become a regular and familiar lifestyle disease today. Stress is said to share straight  relationship and association with hypertension. Hypertension has been called; "Silent killer," because it has no noticeable signs early that can alert or watchful us to danger. The doctor's office takes readings many times for this reason, and also because levels can change in a little period of time due to various situations. 

What is Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

The condition occurs in 33% of all adults in the United States and if left untreated, it can lead to heart attack, stroke, and damage to vital body parts. A person's age is an important factor, and levels need to be monitored more frequently as one gets older. This is very much due to the natural accumulated effects of our lifestyle and diet, which has been added to possible hereditary and genetic predictions.

Blood pressure readings are a combination of two numerical readings; Systolic pressure and diastolic pressure. The systolic measurement is the pressure produced by the heartbeat, while the diastolic measurement is the pressure that exists between the heartbeat. Blood pressure measurement is a fraction of these degrees, expressed in fractional form, systolic readings at the top and diastolic readings at the bottom. 

A typical reading would include a systolic number less than 120 and a diastolic reading less than 80. A pre-hypertension condition can occur if the higher number exceeds 120/80 (121/81 - 129/129). 89). Stage 1 hypertension is diagnosed when those levels are higher than 140/90, and stage 2 hypertension occurs when levels are higher than 160/100.

What is Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

Hypertension (HBP) is broken into two broad categories; Essential hypertension, and secondary hypertension. Essential HBP, sometimes called primary or idiopathic hypertension, with no known cause and no treatment yet. Secondary HBP occurs when elevated levels are caused by known conditions such as heart, kidney, circulatory and endocrine system complications, or conception.

There are some common misconceptions about what hypertension is as well. For years, the primary focus was on diastolic reading, with the argument that it was more indicative of potential problems. If the heart's comfort levels were also high, it was reasonable to assume that if the levels were high during the heartbeat, there was a greater cause for concern. 

However in recent years it has been discovered that high systolic levels are no less important, especially for older people. This form is called "Isolated Systolic Hypertension", (ISH) and is common in older people. In addition to all the health risks already associated with HBP, ISH is also associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease.

So, what is high blood pressure? You need to find out where you stand in terms of your risk factors and all of this common health hazard forecasts.