Causes Of High Blood Pressure
What are the causes of high blood pressure? Sometimes it is not clear where these high values of the pressure figures come from, however, we suffer their consequences.
High blood pressure is a chronic disease that, in turn, results in a risk factor for other cardiovascular events, such as acute myocardial infarction and stroke. We tell you here which are the most frequent origins of the disease to learn how to control it.
What happens in the hypertensive body?
A normal blood pressure is one that is, at most, 120 millimeters of mercury for systolic pressure and 80 millimeters of mercury for diastolic pressure. Above these values we are facing a case of arterial hypertension.
The measurement of the values is artificial, that is to say that the medicine has elaborated those parameters to determine when there are irregularities. What you do is actually measure the force exerted by the blood on the walls of the arteries.
These normality values are updated and analyzed periodically by the world associations dedicated to the subject. Consensuses are international, national or regional, and guidelines are also drawn up for specific diseases, such as kidney failure or diabetes.
The hypertensive body, regardless of the cause behind it, suffers the effects chronically. The increased force on the arteries damages them, damaging the endothelium, which is the inner layer of the vessels.
Endothelial damage occurs progressively, contributing to the appearance of thrombi and clots. These wounds within the vessel stimulate the accumulation of cells, platelets and fibrous substances that slow down circulation.
This explains why, beyond the causes of high blood pressure, the end result is associated with heart attacks and strokes. This disease is considered to be the main cardiovascular risk factor that exists.
Causes of high blood pressure
We can divide the origins of high blood pressure into two large groups: primary and secondary causes. The first are those that do not have a clear explanation, and science cannot decipher why. In the latter there is another disease that generates, as a symptom, the elevation of blood pressure figures.
Primary
It is also known as essential hypertension and is the most common. Patients usually do not have significant symptoms and find out when an acute event occurs or their blood pressure is measured in a randomized control.
The origin of this form of the pathology is not clear. It is known that there are changes in the renin and angiotensin systems, and that the vessels contract more strongly than in other people, but there is no cause that can be defined as the priority.
Most likely, there is an interplay of factors, including the following:
- Genetics: there could be mutations that explain the rise in blood pressure figures.
- Body weight: being overweight and obese are risk factors for metabolic and heart diseases, so a high body mass index increases the risk of high blood pressure.
- Lifestyle: the habits and customs that we have in everyday life have effects on stress values. The consumption of salt and sugar, hydration, sedentary lifestyle and stress, as well as sleep hygiene, are key in explaining arterial balance.
High school
The causes of secondary arterial hypertension are diseases that have as an added sign the high value of pressure. This means that a pathology causes a change, which leads to higher blood pressure than expected for the person’s age.
This form is much less frequent than the primary one, and requires treatment according to the underlying disease. Many times, solving the first pathology, the values decrease and the patient stops being hypertensive.
Among the most frequent causes of high blood pressure we have the following:
- Kidney disease: the kidney regulates the water balance and the renin-angiotensin system. Both are fundamental factors in the maintenance of blood pressure, and their alteration results in imbalances.
- Thyroid problems: hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism cause, not always, high blood pressure. Thyroid hormones are involved in vasoconstriction and heart rate, therefore, their cardiovascular effect is notorious. In children the situation is of particular care.
- Alcoholism: alcoholic people raise their blood pressure due to liver failure generated by alcohol metabolism.
- Adrenal gland disorders: The adrenal glands make hormones and neurotransmitters, including adrenaline and corticosteroids. Both are hypertensive, so a substance-producing tumor would be a generator of hypertension.
Finding the cause of high blood pressure is difficult
Whether it is a primary arterial hypertension, or a secondary one derived from another pathology, the diagnosis is not so easy. Although the measurement of the figures can be carried out by anyone, even with electronic devices that come for this purpose, the subsequent investigation is arduous.
It is important to rule out secondary causes to determine that it is primary hypertension. In that case, lifestyle changes and a drug plan will collide to address the problem.
