What Causes High Blood Pressure?

Posted August 12, 2019 by Joseph Pietrolungo, DO

Almost half of all adults in the United States have high blood pressure, but many are not aware of it. High blood pressure is dangerous and can be a silent killer if gone untreated. That’s why it’s so important to understand what causes it and how to keep it controlled.

First – what is high blood pressure?

In order to survive, your tissues and organs need oxygenated blood to circulate throughout the body. When your heart beats, it creates pressure that pushes blood through a network of blood vessels. Blood pressure measure how much blood is passing through your blood vessels and the amount of resistance the blood meets while the heart is pumping.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is when that pressure of your blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels is consistently too high and reaches unhealthy levels. When that happens, your heart and blood vessels have to work harder and less efficiently, which damages the delicate tissues inside the arteries. As the damage increases, plaque forms along the tears in the artery walls which can ultimately lead to other conditions including heart attacks and stroke.

High blood pressure can be a “silent killer”

It may not feel like something is wrong because high blood pressure often develops over the course of several years. High blood pressure slowly damages your circulatory system, it can be quietly affecting you which makes it that much more dangerous.

What are the symptoms?

Many people will never experience symptoms of high blood pressure. It can take decades for the condition to reach a level that is severe enough to show symptoms. Symptoms of severe hypertension can include:

• Headaches
• Shortness of breath
• Nosebleeds
• Flushing
• Dizziness
• Chest pain
• Vision changes
• Blood in urine
• Blood spots in eyes

If you have any of these symptoms, seek immediate medical attention.

That being said, these symptoms don’t occur in everyone with hypertension. Waiting for a symptom of hypertension could be fatal. DO NOT attempt to diagnose yourself. The best way to know if you have high blood pressure is to get regular blood pressure readings. Know your blood pressure numbers and make changes if needed to protect your health.

What causes high blood pressure?

While the cause of hypertension is often unknown, diet, medicine, lifestyle, age, genetics and underlying conditions can all contribute.

Here are some factors that can contribute to primary hypertension:

• A diet high in salt, fat or cholesterol
• Chronic conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol or hormonal problems
• Hyperthyroidism
• Kidney disease
• Family history
• Sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical activity
• Older age
• Obesity
• Race
• Medicines like birth control
• Stress
• Tobacco use
• Alcohol or drug abuse
• Untreated sleep apnea

What’s a good blood pressure reading?

There are two numbers to a blood pressure reading:

Systolic pressure makes the top number and indicates the pressure it takes to pump the blood out.

Diastolic pressure is the bottom number, which reads the pressure between the beats of your heart.

There are five categories of blood pressure for adults:

• Healthy less than 120/80 mm Hg.
• Elevated systolic between 120-129 mm Hg and diastolic less than 80 mm Hg.
• Stage 1 hypertension systolic between 130-139 mm Hg and diastolic between 80-89 mm Hg.
• Stage 2 hypertension systolic over 140 mm Hg and diastolic 90 mm Hg or higher.
• Hypertensive crisis systolic over 180 mm Hg or diastolic above 120 mm Hg.

Treatment for high blood pressure

A number of factors will determine the best treatment option for you. Your doctor will often begin with a healthier lifestyle.

Healthy diet: your diet will be vital to help reduce your blood pressure. Less red meat and less sodium and fat in your diet, while increasing fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, whole grains and lean meats will help control your blood pressure.

Reaching a healthy weight: losing weight through a heart-healthy diet and increased physical activity will help lower your blood pressure. This is perhaps one of the most effective actions a patient can take to make a significant and lasting impact on their blood pressure.

Managing stress: Stress increases blood pressure; so controlling stress helps manage your health. Some proven stress-reducing techniques are meditating, deep breathing, massage, muscle relaxation and yoga.

Maintaining a clean lifestyle: Keeping free of excess alcohol intake, avoiding, tobacco and drug use down will help keep your cardiovascular system healthy.

Exercise: Regular exercise is an important element in treating and preventing high blood pressure.  Thirty minutes a day, 5 or more days per week is a good start.  Exercise helps reduce stress and strengthen your cardiovascular system, while helping you shed pounds to reduce stress on your body.

Diet: This is a main ingredient in prevention and management of hypertension.  A diet low in sodium is a particularly important part of the management.  Most commons forms of hypertension are very sensitive to salt intake.

Medication: If self-managing blood pressure doesn’t work, you may be prescribed medication to manage your blood pressure. There are various types of medications that treat hypertension, including beta-blockers, diuretics, ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, ARBs and Alpha-2 agonists. Your doctor will find the right treatment for you if this is necessary.

Living with high blood pressure

Managing high blood pressure is a lifelong commitment – to keep it in check, it’s important to make healthy food choices, exercise, keep stress in check and visit a doctor regularly to understand your status.

Appointments are available at more than a dozen convenient office locations in Summit, Medina and Portage Counties. With so many locations, our cardiac patients can expect to receive the right care at the right time – no matter where they choose to receive it within the Summa Health System.