What is Hypertension ?

What is Hypertension ?

Whether or not you develop high blood pressure (hypertension) is influenced by several factors such as your genes, the way you eat, the amount of exercise you take, whether or not you smoke and the amount of alcohol you drink.

Everyone needs a certain blood pressure (BP) to keep blood moving around their body and maintain their circulation. Blood pressure exist because your heart pumps blood around a closed system, rather like a boiler pumping water through a series of central heating pipes. The pressure in your arteries therefore depends on a number of factors such as

1/ the volume of fluid inside your circulation
2/ how hard your heart is pumping at any given time
3/ the elasticity or ‘resistance’ of the vessels the blood is passing through

Normal BP varies naturally throughout the day and night, going up and down in response to your emotions and level of activity. If you have high blood pressure, however, your BP will remain consistently high, even when you are asleep.

BP is measured according to the length of a column of mercury it can support. It is therefore expressed in millimetres of mercury (mmHg). BP is written down as the higher pressure (systole) over the lower figure (diastole).

As many as 1 in 5 adults have high blood pressure known medically as hypertension. This means that blood is forced through their system under a constantly high pressure. Hypertension is diagnosed when systolic pressure is consistently greater than 140 mmHg and diastolic pressure is consistently greater than 90 mmHg. A systolic blood pressure of between 140 and 160 mmHg and a diastolic value of between 90,-95 are sometimes referred to as mild hypertension.

If your BP is consistently greater than 140/90, then you are suffering from high blood pressure or hypertension.

Author
Dr Sarah Brewer is a qualified doctor, health writer and successful media columnist.

Michelle Berriedale-Johnson is a well known special diets cookery writer whose books include The Everyday Wheat-free and Gluten-free Cookbook.

Both authors of Eat to Beat High Blood Pressure: Natural Self-help for Hypertension, Including 60 Recipes

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