What are the statistics of hypertension?

Essential hypertension, or primary hypertension, affects approximately 72 million Americans, yet its basic causes or underlying defects are not always known. Essential hypertension is a far more common condition and accounts for 95 percent of hypertension cases.

Factors and Causes of Hypertension

There are several factors that contribute to the onset of hypertension, to include lack of sufficient exercise, poor diet, hereditary factors, etc. However, hypertension is most likely caused by a high intake of salt, exceeding 5.8 grams daily. Excess salt may be a huge factor involved in the development of hypertension in persons of African American descent, hereditary or genetic susceptibility, kidney failure or renal insufficiency, and obesity. The recommended intake of sodium for healthy 19 to 50-year-old adults is only 3.8 grams to replace the average amount lost daily through perspiration and to achieve a diet that provides suffient amounts of other essential nutrients, according to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

Common Factors of Hypertensive Patients

The vast majority of patients with essential hypertension have in common a particular abnormality of the arteries: an increased stiffness or lack of elasticity in the tperipheral arteries or arterioles, or tiny arteries that are most distant from the heart, which supply oxygen-containing blood and nutrients to all of the tissues of the body. The arterioles are connected by capillaries in the tissues to the veins (the venous system), which returns the blood to the heart and lungs. The exact cause of loss of elasticity of the peripheral arteries is unknown. Yet, the increased stiffness is present in individuals whose essential hypertension is associated with genetic factors, obesity, lack of exercise, overuse of salt, and aging.

Other Factors of Hypertension

Studies show that inflammation may also play a role in hypertension because of the presence of an elevated C reactive protein level (a blood test marker of inflammation) in some individuals. Genetic factors also remain a prominent role in the development of essential hypertension, however, the genes for hypertension have not yet been identified. Approximately 30 percent of cases of essential hypertension are attributable to genetic factors. Health studies in the U.S. show the incidence of high blood pressure is greater among African Americans than among Caucasians or Asians. Furthermore, in individuals who have one or two parents with hypertension, high blood pressure is twice as common as in the general population. On rare occasion, certain unusual genetic disorders affecting the hormones of the adrenal glands may lead to hypertension.