Blood pressure what makes it go up

Elevated blood pressure means that your blood pressure is slightly above what is considered normal. Some doctors refer to slightly elevated blood pressure as prehypertension. Elevated blood pressure will likely turn into high blood pressure hypertension unless you make lifestyle changes, such as getting more exercise and eating healthier foods.

Anyone can have elevated blood pressure, even children, especially if they're overweight or obese. Both elevated blood pressure and high blood pressure increase your risk of a heart attack, stroke and heart failure. Some research suggests that long-term chronic elevated blood pressure may contribute to cognitive decline. Weight loss, exercise and other healthy lifestyle changes can often control elevated blood pressure, and set the stage for a lifetime of better health.

Elevated blood pressure doesn't cause symptoms. The only way to detect it is to keep track of your blood pressure readings. Have your blood pressure checked at each doctor's visit — or check it at home with a home blood pressure monitoring device. All people age 3 and older should have their blood pressure checked by a doctor at least once a year. You might need more-frequent readings if you have elevated blood pressure or other risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Measuring your blood pressure is the only way to know whether you have high blood pressure. High blood pressure usually develops over time. It can happen because of unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as not getting enough regular physical activity.

Certain health conditions , such as diabetes and having obesity, can also increase the risk for developing high blood pressure. High blood pressure can also happen during pregnancy.

You can manage your blood pressure to lower your risk for serious health problems that may affect your heart, brain, kidneys, and eyes. High blood pressure can damage your health in many ways. It can seriously hurt important organs like your heart, brain, kidneys, and eyes.

The good news is that, in most cases, you can manage your blood pressure to lower your risk for serious health problems. High blood pressure can damage your arteries by making them less elastic, which decreases the flow of blood and oxygen to your heart and leads to heart disease. In addition, decreased blood flow to the heart can cause:. High blood pressure can cause the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the brain to burst or be blocked, causing a stroke.

Brain cells die during a stroke because they do not get enough oxygen. Stroke can cause serious disabilities in speech, movement, and other basic activities. A stroke can also kill you. Having high blood pressure, especially in midlife, is linked to having poorer cognitive function and dementia later in life. If a person cannot control their blood pressure, they are at risk of developing health complications, such as heart disease and stroke. Some people may be able to prevent high blood pressure from occurring.

In other cases, some uncontrollable factors — such as biological sex, family history, and race — may increase the risk of high blood pressure. Healthful lifestyle changes, including eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly, may contribute to lower diastolic and systolic blood pressure.

They could also prevent other health complications relating to high blood pressure. Diastolic pressure is the bottom number of a blood pressure reading. When a person has high blood pressure, doctors often focus on the systolic number, but the diastolic number can, and often does, elevate as blood pressure increases.

High blood pressure is a serious, often symptomless condition that a person should take steps to decrease. Lifestyle changes such as reaching or maintaining a moderate weight and exercising regularly can help. A person should talk to their doctor if their blood pressure does not decrease in response to them making healthful lifestyle changes. High blood pressure is common, affecting one in three people in the U. We discuss natural ways to reduce blood pressure, including diet, exercise….

Learn about healthy blood pressure ranges and when to see a doctor in this…. High blood pressure is known as the silent killer as it rarely has symptoms. Read this article to learn how to diagnose it and when to seek help. This article describes optimal blood pressure readings.

In it, we also investigate how to lower blood pressure through exercise and other lifestyle…. Here, we examine the link between sleep apnea, hypertension, and gut bacteria. This helps distinguish labile hypertension from true hypertension , in which blood pressure is high all the time. Although hypertension can develop at any time, it raises a red flag when it occurs in young people teens and early 20s or after age People who develop hypertension in their 40s — particularly if they have a family history of hypertension — are more likely to have essential hypertension than labile hypertension.

They tend to be overweight or have underlying dietary issues, such as excessive sodium intake or heavy alcohol consumption. When labile hypertension is suspected, a hour ambulatory blood pressure monitor may be used to confirm the diagnosis. Then the work of pinpointing the underlying cause begins. Serious detective work often is required. When a medication or lifestyle choice is the precipitating factor, making appropriate changes can cause labile hypertension to disappear.