Hypertension or High blood pressure is a common illness. If you pressure reading is more than 140/90 than you are more likely to be diagnosed with hypertension or high blood pressure.
If you have high blood pressure, this increased pressure makes the blood vessels around the heart and the heart itself to work harder. High blood pressure is one of the main causes of heart/kidney diseases and is also known to cause memory loss or other brain-related illnesses.
What is the main cause of high blood pressure?
There is no single specific cause for this disease. However, it is clear that maintaining an unhealthy lifestyle can lead to it.
People who do the following fall into that category:
- Those who consume a lot of salt.
- Those who don’t have a lot of fruit and veggies in your diet.
- People who are not very active.
- People who are overweight.
- People who consume a lot of alcohol.
What other reasons cause high blood pressure?
Apart from the above factors, there are some other things which can cause high blood pressure.
- Age: As you grow older, the effects of an unhealthy lifestyle can accumulate and this can increase your blood pressure.
- Ethnic origin: Certain ethnicities are more prone to getting this disease compared to others. People from South Asian or African backgrounds are at a greater risk. This can be mainly due to their diet or lack of physical exercise.
- Family history: if anyone if your family has high blood pressure then you are more likely to get this disease.