Primary High Blood Pressure vs. Secondary Hypertension

A study reported in the BBC News in April of this year (2007) suggested that the cause of high blood pressure may lie within the brain. It's an interesting premise, but no more than a theory without a conclusion at this point.

The American Heart Association says that in 90 to 95 percent of high blood pressure cases, the cause is unknown. Because the cause is unknown, it's called essential or primary hypertension. Factors that may lead to high blood pressure in the remaining 5–10 percent of cases, which are known as secondary hypertension, include:

• Kidney abnormality
• A structural abnormality of the aorta (large blood vessel leaving the heart) existing since birth
• Narrowing of certain arteries

The secondary causes were ruled out for me during that initial hospital stay, so we'll be focusing our attention on the "unknown" primary type of hypertension.

Primary high blood pressure causes can include obesity or being even moderately overweight, lack of exercise, smoking, excessive alcohol intake, improper diet, stress, caffeine, birth control pills, insulin resistance, and the list goes on and on and on.

In future articles, let's take a closer look at each of these causes and some common sense approaches to controlling primary hypertension.

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