What causes hypertension? Hypertension is another name for high blood pressure that occurs when your blood pressure is higher than average. Depending on your activity, your blood pressure changes throughout the day. It can be diagnosed by constantly measuring your blood pressure each day. By monitoring your blood pressure, you can know whether or not you have hypertension.
But what causes hypertension? Continue reading to learn more about the most common high blood pressure triggers.
What are the causes of high blood pressure?
Most of the time, it’s unclear what causes high blood pressure. However, some factors can raise your risk.
You can develop high blood pressure over time. It can happen for several reasons, including unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as physical inactivity or lack of exercise. Moreover, specific health conditions like diabetes and obesity may also increase your hypertension risk. Other than these causes, high blood pressure is also common during pregnancy.
What are the things that could increase your high blood pressure?
You could be more vulnerable to hypertension if you:
- are overweight or obese
- eat excessive salt
- consume fewer fruits and vegetables
- do not have enough physical activity
- drink too much alcohol or coffee
- smoke
- are sleep-deprived
- are over 65
- have a relative with high blood pressure
- live in a deprived area
Making healthy lifestyle modifications can sometimes help lower your blood pressure if it’s already high, thus lessening your risk of developing hypertension.
What are the health conditions associated with hypertension?
High blood pressure happens in about 1 in 20 cases due to an underlying health condition or specific medication.
Health conditions that can cause high blood pressure include:
- renal disease
- diabetes
- chronic kidney infections
- obstructive sleep apnea (where the walls of the throat relax and narrow during sleep, interrupting normal breathing)
- damage to the kidneys’ small filters, glomerulonephritis
- (Narrowing of the kidney-supplying arteries)
- Symptoms of hormonal imbalances that include phaeochromocytoma, hyperaldosteronism, Cushing’s syndrome, an underactive or overactive thyroid, and acromegaly
- lupus (a disorder where the immune system destroys areas of the body, such as the skin, joints and organs)
- scleroderma (a disease that produces thicker skin and sometimes causes complications with organs and blood vessels)
What are the signs and symptoms of hypertension?
High blood pressure often has no symptoms or warning indications, and many people are unaware they have it. The only method to determine whether you have high blood pressure is to measure it daily.
In some instances, hypertension can manifest through the following:
- headaches
- nosebleeds
- irregular heart rhythms
- vision changes
- buzzing in the ears
- fatigue
- nausea
- vomiting
- confusion
- anxiety
- chest pain
- muscle tremors