by Keith Mills

Created on: April 24, 2008   Last Updated: April 29, 2008

What is hypertension? Simply put, hypertension is a medical condition known as high blood pressure. In the United States, one-quarter of the population between the ages of 20-74 have hypertension, and three-quarters of all women and two-thirds of all men over 75 have high blood pressure.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, occurs when blood is unable to move freely through blood vessels and arteries. Most people are unaware of having hypertension until they visit a doctor and get a blood pressure reading, which is determined by two values: (systolic pressure)the highest pressure when the heart contracts and (diastolic pressure) the lowest pressure just before the heart contracts. A systolic pressure of 140 indicates high blood pressure and a diastolic reading of less than 90 for a normal reading.

The cause of primary pulmonary hypertension is unknown although an increase in blood pressure may be due to a change in the heart and blood vessels or an increase in the blood volume. Some other contributing factors to hypertension include an inherited abnormality, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, stress, smoking, excessive alcohol, and salt.

Few people with hypertension manifest any symptoms, so it may be some time before a diagnosis leads to treatment. Certainly, once one is diagnosed with hypertension, he or she should consider the contributing factors listed above and cease to be a slave to unhealthy habits. Eating fruits, vegetables, and cholesterol lowering foods such as oat meal, oat bran, walnuts, almonds, and lean red meat can help control one's blood pressure. In the meantime, drinking a lot of water or iced tea will help lessen the effects of hypertension.

Having gone untreated, hypertension can cause damage to the brain, eyes, heart, and kidneys with symptoms persisting as headaches, shortness of breath, fatigue, blurred vision, nausea, and vomiting. The higher the pressure the more likely the person will sustain a stroke, mycardial infarction, angina, heart failure, renal failure, or premature death from a cardiovacular cause.

There are many medical treatments with strange sounding names such as Diuretics, Adrenergic blockers, Angiotensin II blockers, etc., but this writer has high blood pressure and takes one capsule of Tiazac each day to control his hypertension, and, according to my primary physician, Tiazac opens, or clears, the arteries and lets the blood rush through so as to relieve the pressure.

Finally-a little story. This writer used to suffer from headaches two or three times a week for most of his life, some fifty years, until my primary physician diagnosed me with hypertension and prescribed Tiazac for my high blood pressure. From day one my headaches ceased and my hypertension came under control. I don't know exactly what a calcium channel blocker is, but Tiazac has been a godsend for me. There are many remedies for high pressure depending on the severity of the disease, and I encourage the reader if he or she is 20 or older to get a simple blood pressure reading from his or her primary physician. It could save your life.

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