What Can Cause High Blood Pressure?

High blood pressure has many causes, including smoking, obesity, kidney disease, heart disease, certain medications and sometimes anxiety. Because there are many causes, proper diagnosis is essential in detecting and treating them.

Features

• Causes of high blood pressure have many features. For example, features of kidney disease may include urinary difficulties and swelling of the ankles; heart disease may feature chest pain, dizziness, fatigue and difficulty breathing; and features of obesity may include sluggishness, shortness of breath, fatigue and painful joints.

Identification

• Identifying causes of high blood pressure include a complete physical examination that may include blood tests, X-rays, urine testing and cardiac function testing.

Time Frame

• The individual must notify his doctor as soon as he experiences symptoms of causes of high blood pressure, which may include shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness, urinary symptoms or headache.

Misconceptions

• A common misconception of what can cause of high blood pressure is that high eye pressure associated with glaucoma can cause it. There is no relation between the two conditions.

Theories/Speculation

• It is speculated that a condition called "white coat anxiety" can cause temporary high blood pressure. This phenomenon is aptly named because when the patient sees his white coat-wearing doctor, he becomes anxious and therefore, his blood pressure goes up.