Essential Hypertension Risks: An Overview
About 65 million American adults -- nearly 1 in 3 -- have
high blood pressure. Essential
hypertension is the most common type of high
blood pressure, occurring in 9 out of 10 high blood pressure cases. With essential hypertension, the cause of high blood pressure is not known. However, there are factors that increase a person's chance of developing essential hypertension. These factors are known as essential hypertension risks. There are a number of risk factors that increase a person's chance of developing high blood pressure. Some of these essential hypertension risk factors cannot be controlled, including:
- Being African American
- Having a family history of high blood pressure
- Being a male over the age of 45 or a female over the age of 55.
However, there are a number of hypertension risk factors that can be controlled, including:
- Being overweight or obese
- Being physically inactive
- Having diabetes
- Consuming too much salt and sodium
- Excessive alcohol consumption
- Not getting enough potassium (due to not eating enough fruits and vegetables)
- Prehypertension (that is, blood pressure in the 120-39/80-89 mmHg range).
Essential Hypertension Risks for African Americans
In the United States, high blood pressure occurs more often in African Americans than in Caucasians. Compared to other groups, African Americans:
- Tend to get high blood pressure earlier in life
- Usually have more severe high blood pressure
- Have a higher death rate from stroke, heart disease, and kidney failure.
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