High blood pressure is the leading cardiovascular risk factor: it affects almost half of all men and four out of ten women.
What is blood pressure?
Blood pressure is the force required for blood to circulate through veins and arteries. In cases where the force exerted by the heart on the arteries is constantly too high or higher than recommended, we speak of arterial hypertension.
Nowadays, there is a consensus among specialists to define hypertension as figures higher than 140/90, when the maximum limit should not exceed 130/80.
It is understood that a person has normal blood pressure when the figures are less than 120/80 mmHg. If they are higher than 120/80 but do not reach 140/90 it is called prehypertension.
Arterial hypertension is the main cardiovascular risk factor. It is sometimes known as “the silent killer”, since in most cases it has no symptoms, and heart, kidney or brain problems can develop without the patient being aware that he or she is suffering from hypertension. According to estimates by the World Health Organization, it is believed that around one billion people worldwide suffer from hypertension, with a mortality rate of close to nine million deaths per year.
In Spain, around 30/40€ of the adult population is hypertensive, increasing to 60€ in those over 60 years of age.
What causes arterial hypertension?
Normally there is no specific cause that triggers this problem. However, it is known that there are conditioning factors that increase the probability of developing high blood pressure, such as advanced age.
Other diseases such as diabetes, high cholesterol or obesity also predispose a person to hypertension.
There is a smaller percentage of cases in which arterial hypertension is secondary to some specific circumstance, such as alcohol consumption (especially in men), some drugs such as corticosteroids or anti-inflammatory drugs in women, kidney disease and other less common disorders.
With hypertension there are organs that suffer more than others, such as the brain, kidneys or heart. To diagnose hypertension, a blood pressure holter is necessary to determine the pressure values over a 24-hour period.
In order to prevent this disease, the patient should receive instructions on diet, physical exercise, smoking…
For more information, consult a specialist in Cardiology.