Chronic hypertension overview
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Hypertension Main page |
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Overview
Hypertension, commonly referred to as "high blood pressure" or HTN, is a medical condition in which the blood pressure is chronically elevated.[1] While it is formally called arterial hypertension, the word "hypertension" without a qualifier usually refers to arterial hypertension.
Hypertension is one of the most common diseases afflicting humans worldwide, estimated to have a prevalence of as many as 1 billion individuals, and causing 7.1 million deaths per year.[2] Hypertension is the most important modifiable risk factor for coronary heart disease (the leading cause of death in North America), stroke (the third leading cause), congestive heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, and is a leading cause of chronic renal failure. Despite the prevalence and associated complications of hypertension, control of the disease is still exceedingly insufficient.
Hypertension can be classified as either essential (primary) or secondary. Essential hypertension indicates that no specific medical cause can be found to explain a patient's condition. Secondary hypertension indicates that the high blood pressure is a result of (i.e. secondary to) another condition, such as kidney disease or certain tumors (especially of the adrenal gland). Even moderate elevation of arterial blood pressure leads to shortened life expectancy. At severely high pressures, mean arterial pressures 50% or more above average, a person can expect to live no more than just a few years unless appropriately treated.[3]
References
- ↑ Template:KMLEref
- ↑ Chobanian AV, Bakris GL, Black HR, Cushman WC, Green LA, Izzo JL; et al. (2003). "Seventh report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure". Hypertension. 42 (6): 1206–52. doi:10.1161/01.HYP.0000107251.49515.c2. PMID 14656957.
- ↑ Textbook of Medical Physiology, 7th Ed., Guyton & Hall, Elsevier-Saunders, ISBN 0-7216-0240-1, page 220.