Hypertension Causes, Symptoms and Diet

Hypertension or high blood pressure is a medical condition when the blood pressure is elevated or the blood travel through your arteries at a higher pressure than normal. The normal blood pressure is 120/80 mm Hg or lower, when your blood pressure is 140/90 mm Hg or higher you have a hypertension. Any blood pressure reading in between 120/80 mm Hg and 139/89 mm Hg is a pre-hypertension stage. However, in people with diabetes and with kidney disease a blood pressure of 130/80 mm Hg or higher is already considered a high blood pressure or hypertension.

There are basically no hypertension symptoms at all. That is why it is also sometimes called the "silent killer" as most of the people suffering from hypertension do not know that they already have it. You will only know that you have hypertension if you have your blood pressure regularly checked. If you have a family member or a relative who is suffering from hypertension, you are most likely a candidate to have the disease as well.

However, if you have an extremely high blood pressure, you may experience the following hypertension symptoms below:

• Severe chronic headaches
• Chest congestion and pain
• Breathing problems
• Physical and mental stress
• Vision problems (blurry vision)
• Irregular heartbeats (palpitations)
• Blood in the urine

Hypertension can be caused due to several reasons. Some of them include hereditary or genetic tendencies, environmental factors, unhealthy eating habits, stress, smoking, and lack of exercise. Other factors that affect the blood pressure are salt content in the body, volume of water in the body, level of various hormones, and obesity.

There are two major types of hypertension:

• Primary hypertension
• Secondary hypertension

Primary hypertension - It is the most common condition, found in 95 per cent of the cases. It has no definite cause. There are several factors that may act in combination, causing the blood pressure to increase.

Secondary hypertension - It is found in five to ten per cent the cases. Here, the increase in blood pressure is caused by a specific defect in one of the organs in the body. Treating the affected organ can control or cure the hypertension.

Other types of hypertension include malignant hypertension, isolated systolic hypertension, white coat hypertension and resistant hypertension. Malignant hypertension is severe and can lead to damage of organs such as the heart, kidneys and the brain. Isolated systolic hypertension results from age related loss of elasticity of arteries, when the blood pressure is consistently above 160/91 mm Hg. White coat hypertension is caused by anxiety and can be controlled by incorporating changes in lifestyle. Resistant hypertension is a condition in which the blood pressure cannot be reduced below 140/90 mm Hg, despite medication.

A proper planned diet can have dramatic results in reducing hypertension. One significant change in your diet, which you can make, is to reduce your salt intake. So cutting down salt contents from your food will really help you to reduce hypertension.

Reduce the consumption of processed foods which are high in salt such as:

• Bread
• Breakfast Cereals
• Salted Nuts
• Salty snacks
• Smoked Foods
• Cheese
• Pickled Foods
• Processed Meat

However, potassium helps your body to be balanced against the negative aspects of salt. The best way to get your daily amounts of potassium is by consuming fruit and vegetables which are high in potassium, such as:

• Bananas
• Citrus Fruits
• Pumpkins
• Tomatoes
• Green Leafy Vegetables
• Potatoes
• Watercress

Note - If you have kidney disease, avoid high consumption of potassium.