High Blood Pressure Causes

Pressure is such a common illness affecting millions of people worldwide that its no wonder there are so many different high blood pressure causes to consider in its diagnosis and treatment.

There are a lot of different high blood pressure causes out there.  If you are like me and suffer from high blood pressure it’s a good idea to educate yourself about them.  High blood pressure is associated with some serious and potentially fatal conditions like heart disease and stroke, so you can never be too careful about it. 

One of the most famous high blood pressure causes is a high sodium intake.  Putting too much salt on your food is one thing, but also eating a lot of frozen, microwavable or pre-made dishes are also common ways people get too much sodium in their diet. 

It’s a good idea to check the labels on what you’re buying to get an idea of how much sodium you’re putting in your body.  Sometimes foods that don’t even taste very salty are nonetheless high in sodium, as salt isn’t the only chemical that introduces the element into your body. 

Beyond sodium, an overall poor diet is a well-documented high blood pressure cause.  Too much cholesterol and saturated fats, for example, can cause your arteries to become clogged, forcing you heart to work extra hard to get the blood through, which in turn raises your blood pressure.  Additionally, An inactive lifestyle will also generally cause your heart to work extra hard and lead to higher blood pressure.

Another well-known high blood pressure cause is stress.  A lot of focus is spent on the other high blood pressure causes and many people often overlook the mental and emotional aspects to it.  The body is all tied together; mental agitation and anxiety have a direct effect on your heart and circulation. 

Taking some steps to lower anxiety, like getting better sleep, reducing caffeine, and again getting more exercise, will therefore also help lower your blood pressure.

Finally, an increasingly more understood high blood pressure cause is genetics.  Genetics alone won’t cause high blood pressure, but it is behind all the other causes to some extent.  In a nut shell, your genetic make up will determine how sensitive you are to the above mentioned high blood pressure causes. 

With the right genes you can have a high fat and sodium diet, never exercise, drink loads of coffee and stress constantly yet still have a reasonably low blood pressure.  With the wrong genes even a little too much salt may be enough to kick your blood pressure into a dangerous range.

The key is to understand which of the high blood pressure causes relate to your particular condition and to deal with it accordingly.

Resources

Hypertension - The heart is a pump designed to force blood through our body. Blood is pumped from the heart through the arteries out to our muscles and organs. Pumps work by generating pressure. Put simply, too much pressure puts a strain on the arteries and on the heart itself. This can cause an artery to rupture or the heart to fail under the strain - in the worst case stopping altogether

Low Blood Pressure - Blood pressure can vary over a wide range. For instance, the top pressure when the heart contracts (systolic) can vary from 90 to 240 mmHg and the bottom pressure when the heart relaxes (diastolic) can vary from 40 to 160 mmHg. About a hundred years ago it was first recognised that high blood pressure was a major cause of strokes and heart attacks. At this time, it was thought that low blood pressure was a major cause of depression and tiredness. Many people were quite wrongly treated for low blood pressure in the UK in the early 1900s. However, there is no evidence that low blood pressure causes either of these symptoms.

Contact Us   Privacy Statement