High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure also known as hypertension is a severe condition wherein too much force comes out from the heart and the arteries, this causes the heart to pump harder. When the heart and the arteries has been damage due to stress of pumping harder, it may not work well, and other parts of the body like the eyes, brain, and kidneys will suffer.

Controllable or Not
There are many factors that cause blood pressure to rise. Doing some exhausting activities; hot temperature; not having a balance diet; having diabetes and kidney disease; smoking and drinking alcohol; having emotional problems; bad posture; and current medicines, all of these can affect the way our heart pumps blood and all of these can be controlled. Factor like aging are out of our hands.

Overweight
Obesity is a major risk of our body’s health. Researchers discovered that obesity is somehow linked to hypertension. Professor Cowley, the Director of the Monash Obesity and Diabetes Institute said that their study show that leptin, a hormone secreted by fat, is a factor that increases blood pressures.

Gender
Both men and women equally have the risk of having hypertension. Men below 45 are more likely to have high blood pressures while women will have increased threat when they reach the age of 65. Also, men below 55 and women above 65 are more likely to have uncontrolled high blood pressure.

Senior Citizens
Approximately 65% of Americans aged 60 and above have high blood pressure. The common type of hypertension in senior citizens is called Isolated Systolic Hypertension wherein the systolic in blood pressure is high.

Systolic and Diastolic
Keeping yourself updated of your blood pressure helps you to take proper actions to prevent hypertension. Doctors measure blood pressure using sphygmomanometer. When measuring blood pressure, two numbers will be seen; Systolic is the higher of the two numbers and measures the pressure in the arteries while the heart beats; while Diastolic, the other number, measures the pressure in the arteries when the heart rests between beats. The normal blood pressure is when the Systolic is less than 120 with Diastolic less 80. Hypertension occurs when blood pressure arises to more than 120 in Systolic and more than 90 in Diastolic.

Kids and Teens
Kids and teens or even babies are not safe for having hypertension, however, the causes of hypertension in these periods are not that severe compared to adults. Most of adults who have hypertension had it since they was teens.

Treating Hypertension
Treating hypertension reduces the risks of having many diseases including heart failures, stroke, blindness, and chronic kidney diseases. Those who have high blood pressures should change their lifestyle habits with the goal of having your blood pressure lower than 140/90.

There are many medications that can help lower high blood pressures:

• Diuretics – Also called as water pills, Diuretics help to lower sodium content in the body resulting less fluid for the blood vessels to hold, thus making the blood pressure low.
• Beta Blockers – This medication helps to prevent strokes and heart attacks to people below 60. This helps the heart to beat slower with less force.
• ACE Inhibitors – (Angiotensin Converting Enzyme) this also helps to prevent heart attacks and strokes. It reduces the body’s productivity of making angiotensin II, a hormone normally causes blood vessels to narrow.
• ARBs and CCBs – (Angiotensin Receptor Blocker & Calcium Channel Blocker) both of these prevents heart attacks and strokes. People who have diabetes or a kidney disease usually are suggested to take ARBs.