A Basic Understanding of High Blood Pressure.

To many people, the word hypertension suggests excessive tension, nervousness, or stress. In medical terms, hypertension refers to high blood pressure, regardless of the cause.

Because it usually does not cause symptoms for many years-until a vital organ is damaged-it has been called "the silent killer."Uncontrolled high blood pressure increases the risk of problems such as stroke, aneurysm, heart failure, heart attack, and kidney damage

In the United States of America alone their estimate to be 50 million sufferers of High Blood Pressure. It would appear in certain cases but there are greater percentage of sufferers of high blood pressure amongst the black community as opposed to those in the white or Hispanic community in the USA

Also, the consequences of high blood pressure are worse for blacks.High blood pressure occurs more often in older people-in about three fourths of women and almost two thirds of men aged 75 or older, compared with only about one fourth of people aged 20 to 74.

For those suffering with clinical obesity the incidences of high blood pressure rise by 200%.

Within the USA it has been calculated that possibly only two thirds of the people suffering from hypertension have been diagnosed. The treatment figures for high blood pressure and associated conditions are even lower with only 75% of the diagnosed sufferers actually receiving medical treatment.

Two terms are used when calculating high blood pressure, the systolic which is the first and greater of the two figures and refers to the highest pressure of the Arteries. The diastolic figure is the second figure calculated and represents the pressure in the hall product to the process of contraction again.

The traditional way of reporting blood pressure figures is calculated in millimetres of mercury and described as the systolic over the diastolic (120 over 80 etc). If the blood pressure readings were greater than a systolic pressure of 140 mm Hg and a diastolic pressure off greater than 90 mm Hg than to suffer was deemed to be suffering from high blood pressure.

However it has now been recognized that even these figures may be arbitrary as even the smallest increase in blood pressure is a risk. These initial limits where established some time ago when the knowledge of associated medical conditions was not as comprehensive as it is now.

The one major exception to this widely accepted approach towards blood pressure is when it is arising through increased age whereby it is not uncommon to see a raised systolic pressure alongside a normal diastolic figure.

This condition has been referred to as "isolated systolic hypertension". Where the blood pressure is in excess of 180/110 mm Hg and there is an absence of associate symptoms then the entire condition is referred to as a hypertensive urgency."

There has been an additional condition recognized as malignant hypertension and this occurs when blood pressure readings are in excess of 210/120 mm Hg. This additional condition has only been known to occur in Approximately 1 out of every 200 incidences of high blood pressure.

Again the incidences of malignant hypertension is greater within the black community and amongst those people from the socioeconomic groups. Malignant hypertension unlike hypertensive urgency produces a variety of symptoms. Malignant hypertension if left untreated can lead to fatal consequences within six months.

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Scott James writes regularly on Living With High Blood Pressure issues and more information on the above can be found at Living With High Blood Pressure ,Living With High Blood Pressure Symptom and also at www.livingwithhighbloodpressure.net/treatment.html

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