Why use blood pressure medications?

The term 'blood pressure' refers to the pressure or force exerted in the blood vessels of the body by the pumping of the heart. This pumping action causes blood to be pushed into the circulatory system of the body. The blood vessels expand or contract and thereby regulate the quantity of blood as well as the resistance to the blood flow. Blood pressure is measured in terms of two values; the first is the systolic pressure or the pressure recorded when the heart beats and the second is diastolic reading taken when the heart relaxes in between beats. The readings are recorded one above the other, with the systolic value over the diastolic and expressed in mm/Hg or millimeters of mercury. The normal blood pressure is less than 120mm/Hg systolic and less than 80mm/Hg diastolic and is expressed as '120 over 80'.

High blood pressure occurs when the arteries exert a more than normal resistance to blood flow. Some factors that contribute to high blood pressure are arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, hypertrophy or thickening of the walls of the arteries, as well as excessive contraction of the small arteries or arterioles. Very high blood pressure is also called hypertension. Some other underlying reasons for high blood pressure are kidney malfunction, tumor of the adrenal gland, or a congenital birth defect in the aorta. These conditions are known as secondary hypertension.

While low blood pressure or hypotension is also a deviation from the normal pressure, it is high blood pressure that is considered dangerous. In fact high blood pressure is called the 'silent killer' because it causes severe damage to health without exhibiting any obvious symptoms.

The biggest hazard faced by people with high blood pressure is heart disease and heart attack. When the heart has to pump harder in order to push the blood into the arteries and arterioles, immense stress is imposed on the heart. When the heart is forced to work under stress for prolonged periods of time there is a danger of heart enlargement and cardiac arrest. High blood pressure can also adversely impact kidney functioning. When the blood pressure remains continually high, the blood vessels in the kidneys become thicker and narrower, thus decreasing blood supply and impairing kidney function.

It is estimated that about sixty million Americans, including almost fifty percent of Americans over the age of sixty-five, suffer from high blood pressure. Since high blood pressure betrays very few symptoms, almost forty percent of these people are unaware that they have hypertension. As regards the sex ratio of those afflicted, more middle-aged men have high blood pressure as compared to women, however, with advancing age, the number of women suffering from hypertension is significantly higher than that of men. Among ethnic groups, Afro-Americans and Hispanics have a greater likelihood of developing high blood pressure than other people of races. Clinical studies have established that people with lower educational and income levels have a more marked propensity to hypertension than the affluent sections of society. This may be directly linked to the fact that high blood pressure is often synonymous with poor nutrition, excessive fatty diet, lack of exercise and a generally unhealthy lifestyle.

High blood pressure statistics

High Blood Pressure was listed on death certificates as the primary cause of death of 54,707 Americans in 2004. High Blood Pressure was listed as a primary or contributing cause of death in about 300,000 of the more than 2.4 million U.S. deaths in 2004.

About 73 million people in the United States age 20 and older have high blood pressure.

One in three U.S. adults has high blood pressure.

Twenty-eight percent of people with high blood pressure don't know they have it.

Of all people with high blood pressure, 71.8 percent are aware of their condition, 61.4 percent are under treatment, 35.1 percent have it under control and 64.9 percent do not have it controlled.

The cause of 90–95 percent of the cases of high blood pressure isn't known; however, high blood pressure is easily detected and usually controllable.

From 1994 to 2004 the death rate from HBP increased 26.6 percent, and the actual number of deaths rose 56.1 percent.

People with lower educational and income levels tend to have higher levels of blood pressure.

The 2004 overall death rate from HBP was 18.1. Death rates were 15.7 for white males, 14.5 for white females, 51.0 for black males and 40.9 for black females.