High blood pressure is a healthy condition which is commonly experienced everyday by different people and is usually developed over time.
Some health conditions such as diabetes and obesity are known to increase the risk for developing high blood pressure.
However, blood pressure can also happen because of unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as not getting enough regular physical activity.
This article will taken a look at 9 causes of high blood pressure, which you should consider knowing.
You might be wondering as what a blood pressure is really all about. Let's put it simple that blood pressure is the pressure that blood puts on the artery walls. Arteries carry blood from your heart to other parts of your body and that blood pressure is the pressure of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries.
In each and everyone person, blood pressure normally rises and falls throughout the day.
9 Causes of High Blood Pressure
The following are some of the causes of high blood pressure, which you should consider knowing.
1. Overweight or obesity
The first cause of high blood pressure is obesity. When you attain more weight, it means more blood will be required to supply your body with oxygen and this will need more pressure to pump in blood on the walls of arteries. As the volume of blood circulated through your blood vessels increases, so does the pressure inside your arteries.
2. Too much salt (sodium) in your diet
Too much sodium in our diet causes the arteries in our body to constrict and also causes our bodies to retain fluid, in which case any of these causes the blood pressure to increase.
3. Too little potassium in your diet
Potassium plays an important role in that it assists in balancing the amount of sodium in the cells. Potassium lowers the blood pressure by causing the smooth muscle cells in our arteries to relax.
4. Lack of physical exercise
Any form of physical exercise is known to increase blood flow through arteries of the body, which leads to the release of natural hormones and cytokines that relax blood vessels, which in turn lowers blood pressure. Lack of physical activity also increases the risk of being overweight, which is usually associated with high blood pressure.
5. Drinking too much alcohol
Taking more of alcoholic drinks everyday causes hypertension, which may cause constriction of blood vessels, probably by activating adrenergic nervous system, which may simultaneously increase in blood flow and heart rate.
6. Stress
High levels of stress can lead to an increase in blood pressure, this could be that when you are stressed up, you could resort in doing bad things like drinking more alcohol, smoking, which may increase the chances of high blood pressure.
7. Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)
Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, Ibuprofen) causes high blood pressure in different people and it can also worsen the existing hypertension. In some cases, it cause damage to the kidneys, which increases the chances of heart failure. This could also result in heart attack or stroke.
8. Cough and cold medications
Cough and cold medications such as sudafed and other brands that contain pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine usually contain decongestants such as pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine, which cause high blood pressure and heart attack, by constricting all your arteries, not just those in your nose.
9. Chronic conditions
Some chronic conditions, increase your risk of high blood pressure and these chronic conditions include diabetes, kidney disease and sleep apnea.
Effects of High Blood Pressure
The following are some of the effects of having high blood pressure.
a. Hypertension complications
High blood pressure may result in stroke, kidney damage and heart attack, all these put your life at risk.
b. Heart attack and heart disease
High blood pressure can cause heart attack or heart disease by damaging our arteries by making them less elastic, which makes the flow of blood to decrease and this reduces the amount of blood as well as the amount of oxygen in our hearts and this could lead to heart attack.
c. Stroke and brain problems
High blood pressure causes stroke by causing the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the brain to burst or be blocked, and this could make brain cells to die during a stroke because they do not get enough oxygen. A stroke can also kill, and it also causes serious disabilities in speech, movement, and other basic activities.
d. Chest pain, also called angina
High blood pressure may cause heart attack, causes the muscles of the heart to lack oxygen because of blockages. The longer the blood flow is blocked, the greater the damage to the heart, which may cause chest pain.
In conclusion, this article has taken a look at 9 causes of high blood pressure and 4 consequences of high blood pressure. Among others, the article has uncovered that too much salt, cold medication and stress, are some of the factors which contribute to high blood pressure.