What Are the Causes of a Rise in Blood Pressure?
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Patient with a blood-pressure monitor
Significance
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Hypertension causes complications in the body such as aneurysms, atherosclerosis, stroke and heart failure. Severe versions of these complications sometimes lead to death.
Lifestyle
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Sedentary and overweight people need more blood pumped, so they have higher heart rates and tend to have hypertension. Those who consume too much salt (sodium) also get hypertension because salt causes the body to retain water and thus increase resistance to blood flow.
Damage
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Tobacco smokers inhale chemicals that damage and narrow the arteries. This causes more resistance to blood flowing through the body.
Considerations
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Multiple causes of hypertension sometimes combine to make it more serious. For example, stress increases blood pressure temporarily. High blood pressure lasts longer if smoking, alcohol use or overeating are used to cope with stress.
Prevention
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Because hypertension usually has no symptoms, regular blood pressure readings from a doctor or blood-pressure monitor help give you a warning when blood pressure gets too high.
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