Related topics: diabetes , blood pressure , high blood pressure



Hypertension

hide

Hypertension, also referred to as high blood pressure, HTN or HPN, is a medical condition in which the blood pressure is chronically elevated. In current usage, the word "hypertension" without a qualifier normally refers to systemic, arterial hypertension.

Hypertension can be classified as either essential (primary) or secondary. Essential hypertension indicates that no specific medical cause can be found to explain a patient's condition. About 90-95% of hypertension is essential hypertension. Secondary hypertension indicates that the high blood pressure is a result of (i.e., secondary to) another condition, such as kidney disease or tumours (adrenal adenoma or pheochromocytoma).

Persistent hypertension is one of the risk factors for strokes, heart attacks, heart failure and arterial aneurysm, and is a leading cause of chronic renal failure. Even moderate elevation of arterial blood pressure leads to shortened life expectancy. At severely high pressures, defined as mean arterial pressures 50% or more above average, a person can expect to live no more than a few years unless appropriately treated. Beginning at a systolic pressure (which is peak pressure in the arteries, which occurs near the end of the cardiac cycle when the ventricles are contracting) of 115 mmHg and diastolic pressure (which is minimum pressure in the arteries, which occurs near the beginning of the cardiac cycle when the ventricles are filled with blood) of 75 mmHg (commonly written as 115/75 mmHg), cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk doubles for each increment of 20/10 mmHg.

For more information about Hypertension, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with hypertension

results timeline


Breathlessness eased in patients with rare, often fatal disease

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Patients with a rare, deadly disease that mostly affects young women felt a dramatic reduction in breathlessness using an approved drug, according to study results published online today in The Journal of Heart and Lung Tr ...


Enzyme may create new approach to hypertension therapy

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New research from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has found that an alternative therapy may be possible for treating some types of hypertension using an enzyme called ACE2.


Book demystifies psychiatry for the general public

Book demystifies psychiatry for the general public

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Psychiatric disorders are underdiagnosed, poorly treated and highly stigmatized, according to psychiatrists Charles F. Zorumski, M.D., and Eugene H. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D. So these Washington University physicians ...


Gene implicated in stress-induced high blood pressure

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Do stressful situations make your blood pressure rise? If so, your phosducin gene could be to blame according to a team of researchers, at the University of Freiburg, Germany, and the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, ...


Team-based care involving a pharmacist improves blood pressure control

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Patients whose hypertension is managed by a physician-pharmacist team have lower blood pressure levels and are more likely to reach goals for blood pressure control than those treated without this collaborative approach, ...


High blood pressure easy to miss in children with kidney disease

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 20, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Spot blood pressure readings in children with chronic kidney disease often fail to detect hypertension - even during doctor's office visits — increasing a child's risk for serious heart problems, according to research from ...


At-risk college students reduce HBP, anxiety, depression through Transcendental Meditation

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The Transcendental Meditation® technique may be an effective method to reduce blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and anger among at-risk college students, according to a new study to be published in the American Journal of ...


Medication improves health of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

In one of the few studies of the long-term effects of medication in the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) disease, a team of researchers found the health and exercise capacity of PAH patients improved after ...


Doctors' tests often miss high blood pressure in kids with kidney disease

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Many children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) who show normal blood pressure readings at the doctor's office have high blood pressure when tested at home, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of ...


Key player identified in cascade that leads to hypertension-related kidney damage

Key player identified in cascade that leads to hypertension-related kidney damage

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A key player in a cascade that likely begins with stress and leads to high blood pressure and kidney damage has been identified by researchers who say the finding may lead to better ways to control both.


High fructose corn syrup: A recipe for hypertension

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 30, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 12

A diet high in fructose increases the risk of developing high blood pressure (hypertension), according to a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San ...


AMD drug and IOP; getting good eyeglasses to those in need

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Oct 26, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A first-time finding of intraocular pressure increases in patients with no personal or family history of glaucoma following anti-VEGF treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and a report on a simple, low-cost ...


Researchers reverse pulmonary arterial hypertension in mouse models

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 25, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have identified a key protein that promotes the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension in humans and mice. This groundbreaking discovery has implications for ...


Learning the risks for stroke -- and taking action

Medicine & Health / Other

created Oct 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The theme of this year's World Stroke Day on 29th October is "What can I do?". As the World Stroke Organization says, everyone can do something: learn to recognise symptoms and take action, learn to recognise the risk factors ...


Accelerated bone growth may be an indicator of hypertension in children

Medicine & Health / Health

created Oct 20, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Children whose bones are "older" than their chronological age may be at an increased risk of hypertension, according to a study reported today in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. As a result, the in ...