Hypertension: The Risks for High Blood Pressure

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Hypertension is caused by lifestyle habits (Drinking, smoking, stress, nutrition, physical activity, weight) and predetermined factors (genetics, age, ethnicity/ race). Even if somebody is born with a higher risk of hypertension because of genetics or ethnicity it doesn’t mean that they are going to get it; this individual could develop lifestyle habits to prevent hypertension. Hypertension is a common cardiovascular disease (Hoeger, 2009, p. 334). Hypertension is also referred to as “high blood pressure”. Blood pressure is a measurement of the force put on the walls of the arteries by the blood (About High Blood Pressure, 2011). The higher the pressure put on the walls of the arteries when the heart pumps the higher then individuals blood pressure will be. The pressure of the blood maybe be high (hypertensive) because of plaque build-up in the arteries, also known as atherosclerosis (Hoeger, 2009, p. 339). This plaque build-up causes the arteries to be narrow and in turn the heart has to pump with more forces to get the needed blood throughout the body. Plaque build-up in the arteries because of many factors such as nutrition, lack of physical activity, and or being overweight or obese. Other factors that are found to cause hypertension are stress, race/ ethnicity, age, alcohol, smoking and genetics (Understanding Yours Risks for High Blood Pressure, 2011). Topics such as race/ethnicity, age, and genetics cause high blood pressure and these are factors in your life that you cannot fully control because if you are grouped in a certain area you are automatically put at higher risks than others. Smoking, alcohol and stress on the other hand are factors that can be easily manipulated and if they are dealt with in the correct way ...

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