What Causes High Blood Pressure?

What causes high blood pressure? In the majority of people, what causes high blood pressure is not known, but factors such as smoking, drinking too much alcohol, or having diabetes can increase a person's risk of developing hypertension. These risk factors themselves are not what cause high blood pressure. When what causes high blood pressure is known, the condition is known as secondary hypertension.

 

What Causes High Blood Pressure? -- An Introduction

In most people, what causes high blood pressure is not known. In these cases, this type of high blood pressure is called primary, or essential, hypertension. In other people, high blood pressure is the result of another medical problem or medicine. When it is known what causes high blood pressure, this is called secondary high blood pressure.
 

What Causes High Blood Pressure? -- Primary (or Essential) Hypertension

In 9 out of 10 people, there is no identifiable cause of high blood pressure.
 This is called "primary hypertension" or "essential hypertension." Most people with primary hypertension don't even realize that they have it; the majority of people with high blood pressure feel no different from those who have normal blood pressure. That's why high blood pressure is often called "the silent killer."
 
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD