Modifiable risk factors
- Smoking: It is a common risk factor that damages the walls of blood vessels and causes hypertension.
Also, passive smoking (exposure to smokers’ smoke) increases the risk for non-smokers. - Obesity and overweight: The risk of hypertension is higher in obese and overweight people.
Excess weight results in an increased need for oxygen and nutrient supply, which forces the heart to work harder, increases the blood volume in the arteries and increases the pressure on their walls causing hypertension.
The Framingham Heart Study (robust cardiovascular risk study continued for 44 years) reported that obesity and overweight caused 26% of the hypertension cases in males and 28% in females. - Unhealthy diet: An unhealthy diet increases the risk of hypertension, especially salty and fatty diet.
- Lots of salt (sodium) retains the fluids in your body, which increases the blood volume and causes hypertension.
- Also, a fatty diet (rich in saturated fatty acids) accumulates cholesterol in your blood vessels and damages their walls. More than 50% of hypertensive patients have high cholesterol in their blood.
- Also, a diet rich in calories and sugar increases the risk of hypertension.
- Lack of physical activity: Lack of physical activity in your lifestyle increases the risk of hypertension.
Inactive people have a high risk of obesity.
Also, they have an elevated heart rate which forces the heart to work harder and increases the pressure in the arteries causing hypertension. - Alcohol: Excessive drinking raises the risk of hypertension because it increases the risk of obesity and overweight as well as the fats in the blood, which damages the walls of blood vessels.
- Stress: Busy, noisy, sophisticated urban life increases the risk of hypertension due to chronic stress, which raises other risk factors such as alcohol drinking and smoking.
- Pregnancy: The risk of hypertension is higher in pregnant females than in non-pregnant females.
Second, let’s discuss the causes of secondary hypertension.
Secondary hypertension has certain conditions that lead to it, such as kidney diseases, endocrinal diseases, side effects of some drugs, toxaemia of pregnancy, etc.
