Hypertension and its Causes

This article was written by Henry Jackson. James runs a payday loan website – take a look for same day loans.

It is unfortunate that the actual cause of many health conditions is yet not known. High blood pressure, or hypertension as your doctor calls it, has many causes and it is the topic of many TV commercials today. These ads tell us there are many medications that a person can take to help control their high blood pressure.

When your doctor takes your blood pressure during any check-up you have, he or she is actually measuring the force of your blood as it pushes against your bloods vessel walls.  Smoking tops the list of causes of high blood pressure and other contributing factors are lack of physical activity, stress, overweight, the intake of too much salt and excess alcohol consumption.  Family history can also play a part and so can genetics.

This condition is seen more often in black people than white and more often in men than women. Kidney disease is another cause that is high on the list of causes and some women will develop hypertension during their pregnancy. After the birth, it will disappear as quickly as it appeared.  When the cause for the condition of high blood pressure is unknown, it is then called Essential Hypertension.