by Amanda Peel

Created on: July 20, 2009

High blood pressure effects sixty five million adults in the United States alone. It is a serious illness that is also known as hypertension. The illness is either essential or secondary. If it is considered essential hypertension then no specific medical cause can be found to be the cause. Secondary high blood pressure is the result of another condition, such as kidney disease. Many people are unaware that they have high blood pressure so it is called a "silent killer". Most people can get very sick or even die when high blood pressure goes untreated. It causes blindness, heart attack, stroke, kidney problems and even heart failure.

Anyone can have hypertension. It does not matter what race or sex you are. Certain people are more likely to have the disease though, including African Americans, elderly people over 55 years old and also people with a family history of high blood pressure. You are at a higher risk also if you:

1. Smoke cigarettes and use tobacco products.

2. Eat an unhealthy diet including fast food and foods that are high in salt.

3. Do not exercise atleast thirty minutes everyday.

4. Are more than 15 pounds over weight

5. Drink alcoholic beverages heavily

People with high blood pressure do not feel sick at firs or know that there is anything wrong with them. There are no real signs or symptoms. You need to have your blood pressure checked by a health care professional to know if it is too high or not. During the day a healthy persons blood pressure is always fluctuating depending on what they are doing. If a persons blood pressure is usually higher than 140/90 they may need to seek treatment for high blood pressure. If a person is diabetic or they have other risk factors then they may need to seek medical treatment if their blood pressure is usually higher than 120/80 as it fluctuates during the day.

If you do have high blood pressure there are some things that you can do to control it including:

1. limiting your alcohol consumption

2. always taking your medication as prescribed and on time

3. eating a healthy diet that is low in salt and rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains

4. exercising at least 30 minutes every day - even if it is just walking

5. losing any excessive weight you may have gained if you are more than 15 pounds over weight

6. quiting smoking cigarettes and using tobacco products and staying away from people who do smoke tobacco

For more information regarding hypertension please visit The American Society of Hypertension, Inc. at www.ash-us.org/

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