What is high blood pressure?

Blood pressure is a measure of how hard the blood pushes against the walls of your arteries as it moves through your body. It's normal for blood pressure to go up and down throughout the day, but if it stays up, you have high blood pressure. Another name for high blood pressure is hypertension.

What causes high blood pressure?

In most cases, doctors can't point to the exact cause. But several things are known to raise blood pressure, including being very overweight, drinking too much alcohol, having a family history of high blood pressure, eating too much salt, and getting older.

How is high blood pressure diagnosed?

Most people find out that they have high blood pressure during a routine doctor visit. After measuring your blood pressure, your doctor may ask you to test it again when you are home.

How is it treated?

Treatment depends on how high your blood pressure is, whether you have other health problems such as diabetes, and whether any organs have already been damaged. Your doctor may also check your risk for other problems, such as heart attack and stroke. Many different things can cause high blood pressure. If your blood pressure gets too high or stays high for a long time, it can cause health problems. That is why it is important to treat high blood pressure. Medicines are one of the most common methods of treatment.