Hypertension - Classification & Risk Factors

Hypertension or high blood pressure is a long standing disease affecting middle aged to elderly people. It  doubles the risk of having other Heart Diseases, Renal Failure and Peripheral Arterial Disease. Large proportion of people suffering from high blood pressure remain untreated. About 1 billion people today suffer from hypertension & by 2025, it is estimated every 1 in 4 people will be suffering from it. Approximately 8 million people die annually due to hypertension.

According to Pubmed, "Blood pressure (BP) is a measurement of the force against the walls of your arteries as your heart pumps blood through your body." It varies according to the state of heart, contracting or relaxing, hence it is recorded in form of 2 measurements known as systolic, when the heart is contracting and diastolic when its relaxing. Normal blood pressure is 120 systolic, 80 diastolic written as 120/80.

Hypertension can be of two types :-

Primary/Essential Hypertension :- No underlying medical cause. 90-95% cases are of this type.

Secondary Hypertension :- Secondary to other medical disorder.

Classification of Hypertension

What are the risk factors for hypertension?

There are several factors that puts one to risk. Most important of them are :-

1. Alcohol and Smoking - Tobacco is a very important risk factor for number of diseases most prominently for Cancer and Heart disease. Smoking more than 15 Cigarettes a day significantly increases the risk of hypertension. Surprisingly, non habitual smokers are at more risk than habitual ones. Alcohol addiction too causes number of diseases affecting multiple organs. Smoking & alcohol  additive, that is risk compounds if both are present. 
2. Sedentary Lifestyle and Stress  - Modern day affluent lifestyle which does not involve much physical activity is responsible for both hypertension and diabetes. High stress levels promote hypertension through unknown mechanism, but it is responsible for multiple hormonal changes and it perhaps worsens other risk factors.
3. Diet - High Salt intake is the most important dietary factor but others including Vitamin D deficiency, low intake of Calcium, Potassium and Magnesium have also been implicated. High Fat intake and high blood Cholesterol promote Atherosclerosis, the pathological process responsible for Hypertension, Stroke and various other Cardiovascular complications.
4. Obesity - High body weight predisposes to all lifestyle diseases including Diabetes, Hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases.
5. Genetic and Environmental factors - Multiple complex genetic modifications cause hypertension along with other symptoms. 
6. Drugs and other medical disorders - Many drugs like Ibuprofen, Oral Contraceptive pills, Pseudoephedrine (nasal decongestant) etc cause hypertension. Hypertension can also be secondary to medical disorders like Thyroid Disorders, Tumors, Adrenal Hormone Abnormalities, Neurological Disorders. Pregnancy can also cause hypertension known as Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH).