Blood Pressure And Your Health
What Are The Risk Factors For Hypertension
Hypertension can lead to other diseases as well as make
other conditions worse. Hypertension also greatly increases your risk of
a Heart Attack or Stroke. It is important to your health and your future
to learn about the risk factors for hypertension. Some risk factors
cannot be changed and we must accept them, but by controlling and
changing the risk factors you can change you decrease your risks.
Risk Factors you already know you should change are
1) Exposure to environmental pollutants, such as tobacco smoke
2) Obesity
3) Lack of exercise
4) Drinking too much alcohol
5) Certain prescriptions (Ritalin, hormones, steroids, anti-rejection medications)
and many others) and illegal drugs (amphetamines, cocaine, ecstasy).
6) Diet – a diet high in sodium puts strain on the blood vessels by
increasing the fluid volume in the body (salt attracts water)
7) Stress – we could all benefit from a little less of this.
Risk
factors you may need to control
1) Pregnancy – the extra volume of
blood, plus toxemia from high dietary salt intake can put a great strain
on the vascular system.
2) Kidney failure – the body is unable to
remove fluids from the body causing an increase in fluid volume and
blood pressure.
3) Right-sided Heart Failure – decreases the hearts
ability to pump high volumes of fliud through the heart causing a
back-up into the blood vessels
Risk Factors that can not be
changed or controlled are
1) Family history of hypertension
especially onset before the age of 50.
2) Age – the older you get the
greater your changes of getting hypertension
3) Gender (male>female)
4) Race (Afro-American)
5) Nervous System disorders