Common high blood pressure risk factors everyone should know

Common high blood pressure risk factors everyone should know

High blood pressure is a health condition anyone can develop.

According to NIH researchers, many factors can increase risk of high blood pressure.

This includes age, age, race or ethnicity, being overweight, gender, lifestyle habits, and a family history of the disease. 

Age. Our blood pressure rises with age. In adults aged 60 years and older, about 65% have high blood pressure.

Race/ethnicity. Research has shown the high blood pressure is more common in African American people than in Caucasian or Hispanic American.

African Americans may have higher blood pressure earlier in life, have higher high blood pressure numbers, and are less likely to lower blood pressure with treatment.

Overweight and obesity. Overweight and obese people are more likely to develop high blood pressure. You can check your condition with BMI calculation.

If you need to lose weight, try a healthy diet combined with regular exercise. Both are beneficial to your blood pressure too.

Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. This includes eating too much sodium (e.g., salt) or too little potassium, having a sedentary lifestyle, drinking too much alcohol, and failing to deal with stress.

Sleep disorders. Night sleep is very important for our body clock to function well. Poor sleep can disrupt body clock and has been linked to high blood pressure.

Importantly, people with disrupted body clock may have high blood pressure even they are on a low-sodium diet.

Family history of the disease. People whose parents have high blood pressure may have higher risk of developing the disease.

This is a factor you cannot control. You should talk with your doctor about your family health history to get a better treatment plan.

Copyright © 2018 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.