What Is High Blood Pressure?

High blood pressure is a serious condition that can lead to coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, and other health problems.

“Blood pressure” is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps out blood. If this pressure rises and stays high over time, it can damage the body in many ways.

Overview

About 1 in 3 adults in the United States has high blood pressure. High blood pressure itself usually has no symptoms. You can have it for years without knowing it. During this time, though, it can damage the heart, blood vessels, kidneys, and other parts of your body.

This is why knowing your blood pressure numbers is important, even when you’re feeling fine. If your blood pressure is normal, you can work with your health care team to keep it that way. If your blood pressure is too high, you need treatment to prevent damage to your body’s organs.

Blood Pressure Numbers

Blood pressure numbers include systolic (sis-TOL-ik) and diastolic (di-a-STOL-ik) pressures. Systolic blood pressure is the pressure when the heart beats while pumping blood. Diastolic blood pressure is the pressure when the heart is at rest between beats.

You will most often see blood pressure numbers written with the systolic number above or before the diastolic, such as 120/80 mmHg. (The mmHg is millimeters of mercury-the units used to measure blood pressure.)

The table below shows normal numbers for adults. It also shows which numbers put you at greater risk for health problems. Blood pressure tends to goes up and down, even in people who have normal blood pressure. If your numbers stay above normal most of the time, you’re at risk.

Categories for Blood Pressure Levels in Adults (in mmHg, or millimeters of mercury)

The ranges in the table apply to most adults (aged 18 and older) who don’t have short-term serious illnesses.

All levels above 120/80 mmHg raise your risk, and the risk grows as blood pressure levels rise. “Prehypertension” means you’re likely to end up with high blood pressure, unless you take steps to prevent it.

If you’re being treated for high blood pressure and have repeat readings in the normal range, your blood pressure is under control. However, you still have the condition. You should see your doctor and stay on treatment to keep you blood pressure under control.

Your systolic and diastolic numbers may not be in the same blood pressure category. In this case, the more severe category is the one you’re in. For example, if your systolic number is 160 and your diastolic number is 80, you have stage 2 high blood pressure. If your systolic number is 120 and your diastolic number is 95, you have stage 1 high blood pressure.

If you have diabetes or chronic kidney disease, high blood pressure is defined as 130/80 mmHg or higher. High blood pressure numbers also differ for children and teens.

Outlook

Blood pressure tends to rise with age. Following a healthy lifestyle helps some people delay or prevent this rise in blood pressure.

People who have high blood pressure can take steps to control it and reduce their risks for related health problems. Key steps include following a healthy lifestyle, having ongoing medical care, and following the treatment plan that your doctor prescribes.

High blood pressure also is called hypertension.

When high blood pressure has no known cause, it may be called essential hypertension, primary hypertension, or idiopathic hypertension.

When another condition causes high blood pressure, it’s sometimes called secondary high blood pressure or secondary hypertension.

In some cases of high blood pressure, only the systolic blood pressure number is high. This condition is called isolated systolic hypertension (ISH). Many older adults have this condition. ISH can cause as much harm as high blood pressure in which both numbers are too high.

What Causes High Blood Pressure?

Blood pressure tends to rise with age, unless you take steps to prevent or control it.

Certain medical problems, such as chronic kidney disease, thyroid disease, and sleep apnea, may cause blood pressure to rise. Certain medicines, such as asthma medicines (for example, corticosteroids) and cold-relief products, also may raise blood pressure.

In some women, blood pressure can go up if they use birth control pills, become pregnant, or take hormone replacement therapy.

Women taking birth control pills usually have a small rise in both systolic and diastolic blood pressures. If you already have high blood pressure and want to use birth control pills, make sure your doctor knows about your high blood pressure. Talk to him or her about how often you should have your blood pressure checked and how to control it while taking the pill.

Taking hormones to reduce the symptoms of menopause can cause a small rise in systolic blood pressure. If you already have high blood pressure and want to start using hormones, talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits. If you decide to take hormones, find out how to control your blood pressure and how often you should have it checked.

Children younger than 10 years who have high blood pressure often have another condition that’s causing it (such as kidney disease). Treating the underlying condition may resolve the high blood pressure.

The older a child is when high blood pressure is diagnosed, the more likely he or she is to have essential hypertension. This means that doctors don’t know what’s causing the high blood pressure.

Who Is At Risk for High Blood Pressure?

In the United States, about 72 million people have high blood pressure. This is about 1 in 3 adults.

Certain traits, conditions, or habits are known to raise the risk for HBP. These conditions are called risk factors. This section describes the major risk factors for HBP.

Older Age

Blood pressure tends to rise with age. If you’re a male older than 45 or a female older than 55, your risk for high blood pressure is higher. Over half of all Americans aged 60 and older have high blood pressure.

Isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) is the most common form of high blood pressure in older adults. ISH occurs when only systolic blood pressure (the top number) is high. About 2 out of 3 people over age 60 who have high blood pressure have ISH.

High blood pressure doesn’t have to be a routine part of aging. You can take steps to keep your blood pressure at a normal level.

Race/Ethnicity

High blood pressure can affect anyone. However, it occurs more often in African American adults than in Caucasian or Hispanic American adults. In relation to these groups, African Americans:

High blood pressure risks vary among different groups of Hispanic American adults. For instance, Puerto Rican American adults have higher rates of high blood pressure -related death than all other Hispanic groups and Caucasians. But, Cuban Americans have lower rates than Caucasians.

Overweight or Obesity

You’re more likely to develop prehypertension or high blood pressure if you’re overweight or obese. Overweight is having extra body weight from muscle, bone, fat, and/or water. Obesity is having a high amount of extra body fat.

Gender

Fewer adult women than men have high blood pressure. But, younger women (aged 18-59) are more likely than men to be aware of and get treatment for high blood pressure.

Women aged 60 and older are as likely as men to be aware of and treated for high blood pressure. However, among treated women aged 60 and older, blood pressure control is lower than it is in men in the same age group.

Unhealthy Lifestyle Habits

A number of lifestyle habits can raise your risk for high blood pressure, including:

Other Risk Factors

A family history of high blood pressure raises your risk for the condition. Long-lasting stress also can put you at risk for high blood pressure.

You’re also more likely to develop high blood pressure if you have prehypertension. Prehypertension means that your blood pressure is in the 120-139/80-89 mmHg range.

Risk Factors for Children and Teens

Overweight is on the rise in youth younger than 18 years. As a result, prehypertension and high blood pressure also are becoming more common in this age group.

African American and Mexican American youth are more likely to have high blood pressure and prehypertension than Caucasian youth. Also, boys are at higher risk for high blood pressure than girls.

Like adults, children and teens need to have routine blood pressure checks. This is even more important if a young person is overweight.

Source:
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute