blood pressure?

Question

urgent can anyone tell me what causes high blood pressure

Answer 1

several different factors combined can cause high blood pressure, that's why in most cases-a direct cause is unknown.

factors that contribute to high blood pressure are

-genetics
-advanced aging
-african american background
-too much salt consumption
-obesity
-renal failure (kidney failure)

hope this helps

Answer 2

Hello Blackpool Lass,

Unfortunately the exact cause of High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) is not fully understood However some factors to do with ones lifestyle can contribute to it.

These are:

Smoking
Your family history
Obesity (being very overweight)
Drinking a lot of alcohol - especially if you binge drink
Lack of exercise
Diet

About 50% of those suffering High Blood Pressure suffer from Secondary Hypertension which means it can be linked to a recognised cause such as:

Kidney disease
Endocrine disease (diabetes for example)
Narrowing of the aorta
Steroid medicines
The contraceptive pill
Pregnancy, which can cause pre-eclampsia

A quick Search Engine search for 'High Blood Pressure' or any of the other conditions I have mentioned will give you a great deal of information.

Poseidon

Answer 3

There are far too many causes for a sensible answer on this forum.

Smoking and stress, over-weight, sodium are commonly given as causes. But we all know people who have all of these and don't suffer from hypertension.

The fact is, like so many other things, your genes have a big role to play. You're suscepible or you're not.
If you develop hypertension then it'll probably happen quite suddenly (between one annual check and next is common) and it usually responds well to drug treatment.
Lifestyle changes will also help a lot in controlling it. You should lose excess weight, cut salt etc. blah blah blah.

Search google and you'll find loads of material but be careful of people's uninformed guesses or "this worked for me". Everyone is different and different things work for different people.

There is no fit-all cure. In fact, it can't be "cured" in the sense that you can lower your blood pressure and then return your previous lifestyle (as you would if you were cured of most diseases). It can only ever be Controlled, that is a big difference to a cure.
Good luck.

Answer 4

Wow
Your question has generated some high level fantastic answers. All the replies above are great and all give you a wide overview of what causes high blood pressure.

The reality is however - despite all of the above being true for some people - the commonest cause of high blood pressure is what doctors call "idiopathic"

Idiopathic simply means "of unknown cause" and in most cases of high blood pressure no one cause or group of causes can be clearly identified.

The main thing is to focus on getting high blood pressure levels back down to normal. The actual cause is a secondary issue for most people.

Hope this helps

Gordon

Answer 5

There are 2 types of High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
- essential hypertension
- secondary hypertension

CAUSES OF HYPERTENSION
1.- Essential Hypertension
- In 90 percent to 95 percent of high blood pressure cases, the American Heart Association says there's no identifiable cause.
- This type of high blood pressure, called essential hypertension or primary hypertension, tends to develop gradually over many years.

2.- SECONDARY HYPERTENSION
- The other 5 percent to 10 percent of high blood pressure cases are caused by an underlying condition.
- This type of high blood pressure, called secondary hypertension, tends to appear suddenly and cause higher blood pressure than does primary hypertension.
- Various conditions can lead to secondary hypertension, including
a.- kidney abnormalities,
b.- tumors of the adrenal gland or
c.- certain congenital heart defects.

d.- Certain medications — including
- birth control pills,
- cold remedies,
- decongestants,
- over-the-counter pain relievers and
- some prescription drugs
- In a 2005 study, women who took an average of 500 milligrams or more of acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) daily over several years were more likely to develop high blood pressure than were women who didn't take any acetaminophen. It's not known if the same holds true for men.

e.- Various illicit drugs, including
- cocaine
- amphetamines,

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Answer 6

genetics
lack of exercise
eat too much salt
drink too much alchohol
stress
kidney abnormalities
narrowing of aorta and arteries
obesity
age
race - blacks are proned to higher blood pressures than whites

Answer 7

usually the culprit is sodium present i salt.

avoid it.