Hypertension or High Blood Pressure is a long term medical condition in which the Blood Pressure in the arteries is persistently high. Long term high blood pressure, is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, peripheral vascular disease, vision loss and chronic kidney disease.
High blood pressure is classified as either primary (essential) high blood pressure or secondary high blood pressure. About 90 to 95% of cases are primary, defined as high blood pressure due to nonspecific lifestyle and genetic factors. Lifestyle factors that increase the risk include excess salt in the diet, excess body weight, smoking, and alcohol use. The remaining 5 to 10% of cases are categorized as secondary high blood pressure, defined as high blood pressure due to an identifiable cause, such as chronic kidney disease, narrowing of the kidney arteries, endocrine disorder or some kinds of medicines.
Blood pressure is expressed by two measurements, the systolic and diastolic pressures, which are the maximum and minimum pressures, respectively. For most adults, normal blood pressure at rest is within the range of 100 to 130 millimeters mercury (mmHg) systolic and 60 to 80 mmHg diastolic. For most adults, high blood pressure is present if the resting blood pressure is persistently at or above 130/90 or 140/90 mmHg.
