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To many people, the word hypertension suggests excessive tension, nervousness, or stress. In medical terms, hypertension refers to high blood pressure, regardless of the cause. Dubbed the Silent Killer because of the insidious way it works away in the background of someone's health. High blood pressure if left untreated and ignored can lead to lethal complications in a wide variety of illnesses. In the United States of America alone their estimate to be 50 million sufferers of High Blood Pressure. It would appear in certain cases but there are greater percentage of sufferers of high blood pressure amongst the black community as opposed to those in the white or Hispanic community in the USA For blacks it would also appear the adverse consequences of high blood pressure were worse. There is no doubt about that at high blood pressure does increase as we age with the figure is called 75% of women and 66% of men over the age of 75 being treated for high blood pressure. High blood pressure is twice as common among people who are obese as among those who are not. It is a staggering figure that possibly only two thirds of the potential high blood pressure sufferers in the US have been diagnosed. Of this figure about three quarters are receiving medical treatment and of this first three quarters only 50% are receiving adequate treatment. Hypertension is calculated by way of registering two figures. The first figure is the highest and reflects the highest pressure in the arteries upon contraction of the heart during the process known as systole. As would appear logical the second figure relates to the process of contraction within the heart known as diastole. The traditional way of reporting blood pressure figures is calculated in millimetres of mercury and described as the systolic over the diastolic (120 over 80 etc). If the blood pressure readings were greater than a systolic pressure of 140 mm Hg and a diastolic pressure off greater than 90 mm Hg than to suffer was deemed to be suffering from high blood pressure. The change in the approach to these limits has occurred through increased research into hypertension highlighting additional unforeseen complications. Research has shown that it is not unusual for raised figures in both systolic and diastolic pressures for sufferers of high blood pressure. The one major exception to this widely accepted approach towards blood pressure is when it is arising through increased age whereby it is not uncommon to see a raised systolic pressure alongside a normal diastolic figure. This disorder is called isolated systolic hypertension. Blood pressure that is more than 180/110 mm Hg and does not produce any symptoms is " a hypertensive urgency. Malignant hypertension, a particularly severe form of high blood pressure, is a hypertensive emergency. Blood pressure is at least 210/120 mm Hg. It occurs in only about 1 of 200 people who have high blood pressure. For some apparent reason that is not necessarily had an adequate medical explanation the incidences of malignant hypertension are increased within the black community and those within the lowest socioeconomic groups. This type of hypertension is unlike hypertensive urgency in that it produces a variety of severe symptoms. These can be fatal within a period of six months if left untreated.
Article Source: http://www.bodyformind.com/db
Scott James writes regularly on High Blood Pressure issues and more information on the above can be found at High Blood Pressure ,High Blood Pressure Symptom and also at www.livingwithhighbloodpressure.net/treatment.html
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