The causes of high blood pressure vary from one person to another. In fact, the condition of hypertension can be divided into two categories - primary hypertension and secondary hypertension. The primary high blood pressure is also referred to as essential hypertension. This is a condition when there are no visible symptoms of high blood pressure available. On the other hand, the secondary hypertension is actually a condition that is the result of an underlying cause, such as heart disease, kidney disease, and others. In fact, it can also be caused because of a particular type of medication that you are taking.
Primary Hypertension
Though there are no identifiable causes of primary hypertension, but still, there are certain risk factors that greatly increase your chance of developing this condition. It is important for you to understand that almost 95% of patients suffer from primary high blood pressure. Following are some of those risk factors –
• Emotional stress
• High fat diet
• High amount of salt in your diet
• Excessive alcohol consumption
• Smoking
• Lack of exercise
• Obesity
• If the condition seems to run in families - family history can be one of the major causes of high blood pressure.
• Age factor is also important. You are at a higher risk of getting this disease as you get older.
There are a number of other medical conditions as well that may result in hypertension. Though the exact causes are unknown for this specific condition, yet there is compelling evidence to show that they are very much likely to happen because of a complex combination of genetic, environmental, and other factors. As per experts, a number of interactions between genes play a major role in essential hypertension. Diabetes and high blood pressure are also related. Kidney damage in type-1 diabetes often results in high blood pressure.
Secondary Hypertension
The secondary hypertension is not very common, as only 5% of patients suffer from it. The causes of this condition may include the following –
• Illegal stimulants, such as crystal meth, amphetamine, and cocaine
• Excessive alcohol consumption.
• Certain medicines, such as the oral contraceptive pill.
• Any other medical condition that affects tissues of the body, such as lupus.
• Hormonal conditions may also be one of the causes of high blood pressure in this case. For example, Cushing's syndrome is a medical condition in which an excess of steroid hormones is produced by the body.
• Narrowing of the arteries.
• Kidney disease, kidney infection, or other kidney conditions.
Thus, there can be several causes of high blood pressure. However, the vast majority of patients suffering from essential hypertension have reported a common particular abnormality of the arteries – this is stiffness or lack of elasticity in the tiny arteries, such as in peripheral arteries or arterioles. However, here again, the medical world still doesn’t know what makes the peripheral arteries so stiff.