It (that is HPT or high blood pressure), manifests itself in a constant and chronically elevated blood pressure. Too high and too unhealthy for comfort or to be ignored.

Some also refer to it as ‘arterial hypertension’. It is a silent killer for the most part, especially when going undiagnosed and untreated. It has the highest inherent risk and/or causality, contributory factor rate for/of heart attack or stroke, than any other disease.

If the condition persists over time, it is one of the major concerns for medical conditions like

§       Strokes
§       heart attacks
§       heart failure
§       arterial aneurysm
§       chronic renal failure
§       headaches
§       vomiting
§       visual impairment
§       blindness
§       convulsions
§       paralysis
§       coma

… And many others...  EVEN DEATH!

Types of Hypertension

There are TWO classes or types of Hypertension for medical diagnoses. Doctors often refer to as essential (primary) HPT or secondary HPT.

According to online sources and medical dictionaries, classifications and expert opinion…

§       Essential hypertension entertains no specific medical cause for the condition to manifest.

§       Secondary hypertension means that there is a causal or contributory cause, explanation, underlying issue that results in the high blood pressure. Some examples may include kidney disease or certain tumors.

What is normal and/or considered High Blood pressure, HPT?

We all have it! There is no escaping it. You need it – BLOOD PRESSURE! It is an essential medical and system requirement of/for life.  Blood circulated through your body to keep it running, taking oxygen, nutrients where it is needed and belongs.  You need to know and understand how your body and blood pressure works, in order to keep it within optimal, balanced levels.

For your blood pressure to be NORMAL is not ONE reading. Let us be clear about that – it is and indicates values, readings falling into a range of metrics and readings. Blood pressure is typically what we refer to when we are talking about the force that is required in your veins/arteries to move your blood, when the heart beats and when the heart rests. These two reading make up your blood pressure level readings, higher and lower readings, systolic and diastolic.  Millimeters of Mercury or mmHg is the metric used.

There is an official Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure) and the scales they use and recommend for public health and medical practitioners, have recently been updated and changed to reflect healthier living levels and actually lower readings as the ideal or normal range to ensure optimal health and well-being.

Earlier, before these changes took effect, typically the standards for   ‘normal’  blood pressure ranges held firm, in the vicinity of  120/80 mmHg, with readings higher, between and to 139/89 mmHg as "pre-hypertension."  Or diagnosis at-risk for/of developing the disease.

These scales and tools help us to identify and diagnoses early, those at high or increasing risk of developing hypertension, monitor existing patients and more.

Other groups and advocates in the field, like The Mayo Clinic suggests - in line with some of the most recent trends  - (still lower rates of healthy blood pressure), that  even 115/75 mm Hg should be the rule of thumb most of us should be living by, striving for and getting to.

If you do suffer from some kidney or liver disease or a weakened immune-system for example and get diagnosed with 130/80 mmHg, you will be treated as ‘high risk’, even if this was seen as borderline diagnosis before. If you have readings in this range, it actually warrants treatment. Be sure to discuss these and recent BP readings that you might have received at your last check-up or round of medical tests, procedures with your team of medical, health and wellness professionals. Your medical well-being, care team.

Many patients these days are taking on a more pro-active role in measuring, knowing, lowering and monitoring their own blood pressure. There are numerous tools at your disposal, from instruments in retail outlets and/or pharmacies, to home blood pressure monitoring devices. Choice and empowered hands-on management is advisable for you to get the best results managing, living with, lowering and even maintaining a healthy blood pressure (whatever for you individually it might be!). You can see your blood pressure as an indicator of your heart-health. As you heart pumps blood through your body, forces and pressure are created, measured and this gives us a window into our bodies and tells us, like a barometer how we are doing in the health department.

Here are some fast and disturbing, alarming and REAL facts about high blood pressure:

IT IS A SILENT KILLER - High blood pressure (hypertension) killed 46,765 Americans in 2001 and has been creeping steadily higher as we have grown more and more obese as a nation.
IT IS DEADLY AND NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY, DISMISSED, IGNORED OR UNDERESTIMATED. IT KILLS! It was listed as a primary or contributing cause of death in about 251,000 U.S. deaths in 2000
IT IS PRESENT IN LARGE NUMBERS, ACROSS AGE-GROUPS, GENERATIONS; GENDER AND ESCALATING As many as 50 million Americans age 6 and older have high blood pressure
One in five Americans (and one in four adults) has high blood pressure
MOST DO NOT EVEN KNOW THEY HAVE IT – as much as 30% do not know that they suffer from HBP
More than a 10th of people who have the condition are not on medication or doing anything special to treat their condition
Very few HPT, HBP sufferers are not following a special diet or taking drugs
Up to 25 percent of sufferers and patients (diagnosed and not), are doing all they can to get better, including healthier alternatives, exercise and the like. Less than ONE third of patients have a holistic, personalized treatment and therapy, whole-health, natural solution and are just treating symptoms or taking prescription medications

In up to 95% of the diagnosed cases the causes elude us; they remain unknown for the most part
HPT or high blood pressure is and can be easily detected and usually is controllable with minimal effort, intervention, lifestyle changes, healthy balanced living, the right foods, habits, exercise and nutrients our bodies need to function optimally

Surprised by these facts?? Most are at first reading, starting to wonder if we really have such a good handle on what to do about HPT or HBP?

But, you may well ask and justifiably so, why people would develop hypertention in the first place. There are numerous reasons and factors at play here. More than meets the eye at first glance anyway!

Some of the most commonly accepted culprits include:

§       Genetics and hereditary factors,
§       alcohol intake
§       crowding
§       environmental factors (workplace, home, profession)
§       excess weight
§       excessive noise exposure
§       family size
§       fast-paced living
§       obesity
§       salt intake
§       stimulant intake (like caffeine, cola and others)
§       stress and nature of occupation
§       heart and health problems
§       circulatory issues

… and many others.

Upward of 60% of all HP cases, show that patients have large daily sodium intake and salt-rich diets, foods, choices and habits that can and do harm their health.

Renin-enzymes at work within your body can also cause or contribute to higher blood pressure levels and need to be kept in check.

Insulin correlations are also very important for helping with high blood pressure. We need to understand BETTER how our bodies function, in order to do something effectively and specifcially to LOWER OUR BLOOD PRESSURE, PREVENTING HEART ATTACK, STROKE AND MORE.

The target is the to regulate blood-sugar that could also lead to  increased arterial pressure, referred to some as the so-called ‘metabolic syndrome’. If you accept these, then leaping to what you can do about it, does not take much. The good news is that you can change the tides of high blood pressure in a number of ways, quite successfully. You do not necessarily have to take prescription medication and submit yourself to a lifelong sentence or regimen (although in some cases it may be necessary to take medication – discuss your best options with your doctor and medical team for clear-cut answers and choices that are right for you).

Not sleeping enough, sleeping disorders and disturbances, costing you your replenishment, robbing the body of the chances and opportunity to reload and be healthy, at optimal functioning levels, like sleep apnea for example, can also be contributing and underlying symptom or diagnosis help to practitioners and patients. Some suggest losing excessive weight  and even adding therapy and treatments (at night, at resting or while sleeping) referred to as ‘nocturnal nasal positive airway pressure’, to assist with lowering the blood pressure levels all-round and help you live healthier, get the sleep you need and be at your very best!
Your DNA-Genetics, hereditary factors do not go unrecognized here iether. It does run in families for the most part and considered part of a more complex genetic disorder. Some suggest the incidence due to this category alone to be as high as one third of patients more or less. Animal and human studies seem to present the same findings. There is something in our genetic, gene make-up, by design that pre-disposes us to developing the condition or not.WE inherit it from our predecesors our parents and generations that have come and lived before us, but there are also more complex, multi-layered causes that we are only now unravelling still. Elevated blood pressure in many cases are only one of many symptomatic expressions and manifestations of the body, issues, problems, disease, unbalances within the functioning human system and more. It is  like a gage  that indicates that all is not well.
There are more than fifty genes associated with HPT (hypertension, high blood pressure alone!) The body of knowledge in this area keeps growing and expanding as well.

Specific causes for HPT and HBP are hard to identify and attribute to in many, if not most indivdiuals. Sometimes there are endocrine or renal defects  that are tell-tale signs, other times there are no such clear-cut answers and/or causes to be had or given.

A very common form of HPT or HBP, hypertension are renal or kidney related.

There are also hormonal, gland or adrenal hypertension, as well as
Hypercalcemia or hardening of the arteries in and around the heart, causing heart-related disease

It is a scary, unsettling diagnosis to receive and most individuals, not unlike ourselves want to start doing something right away, countering the unfolding or developing of these types of diseases and worse prognoses along the way!  But what to do exactly, is oftentimes NOT emphasised enough. There is more to HPT or HBP than popping yet another pill! You can rely on nature and what it provides for us to get better, best results, lasting over time, working its magic for you and your blood-pressure levels, effectively lowering YOUR risk for heart-attack, stroke and other diseases.

Some suggest what we eat has a lot to do with it. Let us take a closer look at diet, eating habits, food choices, sodium, and the like.

Sometimes we take things, medicines to make us feel better, not worse. Some have side-effects, not in all, just some or not known yet.

Certain medications may make HBP and HPT worse. Pain-medications especially NSAIDS (Motrin/ibupofen) and steroids can cause hypertension. There is actaul causality here. You read it right. It is indicated on most labels, but not necessarily read, implemented or taken into consideration at the point of taking or ingesting them. Short term relief, long-term implications! A treat in some places, licorice or (Glycyrrhiza glabra) can cause secondary hypo-aldosteronism, that has been known and identified as a causal factor for developing HBP.

As we age as people and individuals, our arterial walls deteriorate. We are and feel not as young as we used to! But it does not have to be that way. We do not have to settle for less. You can strengthen these natural fibers, cells and walls,  making blood vessels less stiffer, not sacrificing the  elasticity and keeping your blood pressure low!
If you exercise your heart , you will benefit in the long-run. That is the long and short of dealing effectively with blood pressure – exercise!

Here is how the body copes with HBP, HPT issues and problems.
The kidneys cannot get rid of sodium
It increases demand and production of same
Effectively raising blood pressure  and forces to cope with the demands in the system
Tries to balance and get equilibiurm back the body battels, raises blood pressure, circulation and puts more pressure on the heart
Vaso-constriction leads to more retention of sodium and water in order to make this happen
Blood volume increases
All the above leads to hypertension.

See how naturally these processes seem to work?

Here is another such example:
There is increased or even overactive sympathetic nervous system activity
This leads to increased stress responses
The body and system has to respond and cope somehow
Thus, increased circulation, pressure and see there… HPT, HBP!
Mostly our diagnosis comes from a medical practitioner, or we are normally not bothered by it too much. The symptoms are at times even non-existent or confused, misdiagnosed or not spotted at all, not until we are tested and checked.
Some attribute the lack of awareness of this problem to this diagnosis that is so incidental it seems and done mostly by healthcare professionals as part of normal routine check-ups.

More serious forms of the condition, if left over time or developing quickly, like the aggressive, or more malignant, accelerated HPT typically happens later , associated with more headaches, blurred vision and end-organ damage. It is easier in a sense to spot, but then who wants to wait for that?!

On the other end of the spectrum it is also true that even stress, anxiety, excitement etc. can raise your blood pressure and we oftentimes dismiss it as just that. Our nerves! We misunderstand, misinterpret and underestimate the seriousness of what this can effect in our lives and health. It can be deadly, it can and has killed people, others and even as we speak is taking its toll. We need to understand it better and utilize it for the tell-tale sign that it is that something is amiss with our bodies and human system.

Hypertension, HPT or HBP is NOT the same thing as mental tension, stress and anxiety. They do not cause each other per se, but have an intricately more complex relationship with one another.

Lots wonder if they can die of HPT or HBP specifically. Hypertensive urgencies and emergencies can occur in some individuals, but is really highly rare too.
With extremes there are always and also exceptions to this rule of thumb of course. At reading in the range of 240 mmHg and/or a diastolic blood pressure over 120 mmHg there might be longer term consequences and health implications like organ damage and/or failure. Intervention and controlling it becomes the immediate courses of action taken and required to treat it effectively. It can also affect your brain-functioning and increase the intracranial pressure, causing strokes for example.
Many do not see their high blood pressure for what it is or could be, become or develop into. We need to take it more seriously than we do. Many do not seek treatment, thinking they will get better by themselves, on their own, over time, NOT realizing the destructive force and effects this can and does have on their bodies and overall human system, including heart, lungs, circulatory system and even brain. It does have short, medium and long-term effects!  Here are just some of the MORE serious conditions you need to be aware of when suffering from high blood pressure. It is no laughing matter to be dismissed or underestimated. It can cause:

§       Myocardial infarction (heart attack)
§       Hypertensive retinopathy - damage to the retina
§       Hypertensive nephropathy - chronic renal failure due to chronically high blood pressure
§       Hypertensive cardiomyopathy (heart failure due to chronically high blood pressure)
§       Cerebrovascular accident (CVAs or strokes)