Top 10 High Blood Pressure Risk Factors

High blood pressure or hypertension is dangerous because it forces the heart to work harder and it contributes to hardening of the arteries. Most hypertensive people do not even know about their condition, in spite of the fact that hypertension is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease worldwide and it is associated with more than 13 percent of all deaths globally.

Majority of Hypertensive Patients are not Aware of Their Condition

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association is about a research in which 142,042 patients from 17 countries were involved. More than 53 percent of the participants did not even know about their high blood pressure. Among the patients who were aware of their hypertensive condition, more than 87 percent were receving any kind of drug treatment. However, only about 33 percent of them had their high blood pressure under control. Uncontrolled hypertension is rather typical for low income countries but still significant is high and middle income countries too.

Risk Factors

The exact causes of blood pressure are not known, but there are several risk factors to consider. By taking attention to the risk factors below you can minimise the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.

1. Older Age
Being older than 55 is a significant risk factor for having elevated blood pressure.

2. Gender
Women are less likely to develope high blood pressure than men.

3. Ethnicity
Ethnic background plays an important factor in the development of high blood pressure. African-Americans tend to have higher risk for hypertension. On contrary, Asian population have the lowest demonstrated risk of high blood pressure.

4. Genetics
The family history of high blood pressure may increase the risk.

5. Smoking
Smoking is the number 1 risk factor which should be controlled.

6. Unhealthy Diet
The more you weight the more risk you undertake to develop high blood pressure.

7. Activity
Lack of sport leads to weak heart and obesity.

8. Medications
Certain medications may cause or worsen hypertension.

9. Kidney Problems
Kidneys play an important role in regulation of blood pressure, therefore any damage in them may cause high blood pressure

10. Other Medical problems
Secondary hypertension can be caused hormone imbalances, anatomic abnormalities or tumors.