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HYPERTENSION
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HYPERTENSION ************************************************************** Blood pressure "Blood pressure" is the force with which your heart pumps blood through the body. Occasional increases in blood pressure levels are not unusual. Hypertension Hypertension is high blood pressure. When heart beats (contracts and relaxes) it pumps out a certain volume of blood. The maximum arterial pressure, measured in mm Hg, determines the systolic reading and the lowest reading of this pressure is called the diastolic pressure. It is widely accepted that a person having a reading of a systolic pressure of greater than/equal to 140 mm Hg and a diastolic pressure of greater than/equal to 90 mm Hg is considered to have high blood pressure. When such a reading is sustained over a period of time, it is diagnosed as hypertension. Causes There are two types of hypertension. One is primary hypertension and the other is secondary hypertension. The cause of primary hypertension is unknown. It just happens but however, there are certain risk factors or associations such as hereditary factors, race, age, environmental and life-style factors (where you live, salt and other chemicals, weight, stress, alcohol, lack of exercise). The difference between primary and secondary hypertension is that we know the causes of secondary hypertension. Usually, the causes of secondary hypertension include renal artery stenosis (or other cause of increas...
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