Hypertension

Hypertension: Introduction

Hypertension is the condition of having high blood pressure. It is very common and affects around 50 million Americans of which about 30% are not yet diagnosed (NHLBI). Hypertension is an under-diagnosed condition because it causes damage to the body with no symptoms or only mild symptoms. It has been called a "silent killer" for this reason.

Correct diagnosis of the cause of high blood pressure is important. Most cases of chronic hypertension are "primary hypertension" but a small percentage are "secondary hypertension" where the rise in blood pressure is caused by another underlying condition. Hypertension during pregnancy is another common special case; it is called gestational hypertension, preeclampsia or eclampsia depending on its severity.

Symptoms of Hypertension

• No symptoms - many people are unaware they have hypertension until it is accidentally found at a doctor visit or they develop complications of hypertension
• Non-specific symptoms - symptoms of hypertension may be mild and vague
• Headache
• Morning headache
• Tinnitus - ringing or buzzing in ears
• more symptoms...»

See full list of 32 symptoms of Hypertension

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Hypertension:

• High Cholesterol: Home Testing:
  • Home Cholesterol Tests
  • Home Triglycerides Tests
  • Home Blood Pressure Test Devices
• High Blood Pressure: Home Testing
  • Home Blood Pressure Hypertension Tests
  • Home Blood Pressure Monitors
  • Home Heart Tests
• Heart Health: Home Testing:
  • Heart Rate Monitors
  • Irregular Heartbeat Detection
  • Heart Electrocardiogram (ECG)
  • Home Blood Pressure Testing
  • Home Cholesterol Testing
• Fatigue: Related Home Tests:
  • Home Anemia Tests
  • Home Thyroid Gland Function Tests
  • Home Adrenal Gland Function Tests
  • Home Calcium Deficiency Tests
  • Sleep Apnea Testing
  • Home HIV Tests
• Home Anemia Diagnostic Tests
• Diet & Weight Loss: Home Testing:
  • Home Weight Testing
  • Home Body Fat Testing (BMI)
  • Home Body Fat Monitoring
  • Home Fitness Testing
• Diabetes: Related Home Testing:
  • Home Diabetes Testing
  • Home Blood Glucose Test Kits
  • Home Urine Glucose Tests
  • Home Urine Ketone Tests
  • Home Diabetes HbA1c Tests
  • Home Microalbumin Tests (Kidney)
  • Home Urine Protein Tests (Kidney)
  • Home Kidney Health Tests
  • Home Eye Health Tests
• more tests...»

Hypertension: Complications

Review possible medical complications related to Hypertension:

• Kidney disease
• Kidney failure (type of Kidney disease) - hypertension is the second most common cause of kidney failure (after diabetes)
• End-stage renal disease
• Heart disease
• Hardened arteries (see Artery symptoms)
• Cardiovascular disease
• Angina
• more complications...»

Medical Textbooks Online about Hypertension

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Tests for Hypertension

• Sphygmomanometer (arm cuff blood pressure test)
• Home blood pressure tests
• Finger cuff blood pressure test
• more tests...»

Read more about tests for Hypertension

Wrongly Diagnosed with Hypertension?

• Misdiagnosis of Hypertension
• Failure to diagnose Hypertension
• Hidden causes of Hypertension (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Undiagnosed: Hypertension

Hypertension: Self Assessment Tools

• Stroke -- Self Assessment Tools
• Heart Attack -- Self Assessment Tools
• Stress -- Self Assessment Tools
• Smoking -- Self Assessment Tools
• Weight Management -- Self Assessment Tools
• Heart Disease -- Self Assessment Tools
• more tools...»

Hypertension: Medical Mistakes

• Hypertension -- Health Mistakes
• Cholesterol -- Health Mistakes
• Obesity -- Health Mistakes
• Diabetes -- Health Mistakes
• Metabolic Syndrome -- Health Mistakes
• more mistakes...»

Hypertension: Marketplace Products, Discounts & Offers

Products, offers and promotion categories available for Hypertension:

• Dieting & Weight management: products & offers »
• Heart health products & offers »
• High cholesterol
• more product offers...»

Hypertension: Undiagnosed Conditions

Commonly undiagnosed diseases in related medical categories:

• Chronic Major Diseases that are commonly Undiagnosed:
  • High Cholesterol -- Undiagnosed
  • Heart Disease -- Undiagnosed
  • Cancer -- Undiagnosed
  • Depression -- Undiagnosed
  • Type 2 Diabetes -- Undiagnosed
  • Type 1 Diabetes -- Undiagnosed
  • Hypertension -- Undiagnosed
  • Hemochromatosis -- Undiagnosed
  • Metabolic Syndrome -- Undiagnosed
• more undiagnosed conditions...»

Misdiagnosis and Hypertension

Metabolic syndrome often undiagnosed: Metabolic syndrome, also known as Syndrome X, is an often overlooked medical condition that causes a cluster of chronic symptoms. There are often four...read more »

Heart attacks can be undiagnosed: Although the most severe symptoms of heart attack are hard to miss, there are varying degrees of severity. It is altogether too common for people to die from undiagnosed heart attack, or from...read more »

Heart attacks can be overdiagnosed: Although many people die from heart attacks, there are also many cases where people fear that they have a heart attack, but actually have...read more »

Unnecessary hysterectomies due to undiagnosed bleeding disorder in women: The bleeding disorder called Von Willebrand's disease is quite common in women...read more »

Rare heart condition often undiagnosed: The rare heart condition called long QT syndrome can lead to episodes of palpitations and rapid...read more »

Heart attack can be over-diagnosed: Although heart attack is often undiagnosed, leading to fatality, it can also be over-diagnosed. People become concerned that a condition is a heart attack, whereas there are...read more »

Blood pressure cuffs misdiagnose hypertension in children: One known misdiagnosis issue with hyperension, arises in relation to the simple equipment used to test blood pressure. The "cuff" around the arm to measure blood pressure can...read more »

Over-diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension in obese patients: A diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension, particularly pulmonary arterial hypertension, is often a misdiagnosis in obese patients. Exertional dyspnea leads to a...read more »

Obesity-related conditions undiagnosed in children: A variety of conditions are associated with obesity (see obesity), but these tend to be undiagnosed more often in child patients than in...read more »

Hypertension misdiagnosis common in children: Hypertension is often misdiagnosed in adults (see misdiagnosis of hypertension), but its misdiagnosis is even more likely...read more »

Silent attack in diabetics: Heart disease is the leading cause of death among diabetics. Patients with type 2 diabetes above the age of 60-65 years are susceptible to silent heart attacks.Diabetes being a multi systemic...read more »

Lack of early signs in renal cell carcinoma: Renal cell carcinoma lacks early warning signs and makes a much generalised presentation. Hence the chances of it being misdiagnosed are higher. It has to be...read more »

Cushing's syndrome of obesity?: Cushing’s syndrome usually occurs due to chronic steroid administration, bilateral adrenal hyperplasia, adrenal tumour and ACTH excess. Morbidity and mortality associated with...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Hypertension

Hypertension: Research Doctors & Specialists

Research related physicians and medical specialists:

• Cholesterol Specialists:
  • Clinical Lipidology (Cholesterol/Triglycerides)
  • Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism
• Cardiac (Heart) Specialists:
  • Cardiology (Heart specialists)
  • Pediatric Cardiology (Child Heart Specialists)
  • Cardiothoracic Surgery
  • Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology
  • Interventional Cardiology
• Blood Health Specialists (Hematology):
  • Hematology (Blood Specialists)
  • Pediatric Hematology / Oncology (Child Cancer/Leukemia)
  • Hematopathology (Blood Diagnostics)
• more specialists...»

Other doctor, physician and specialist research services:

• Rate Your Doctor Online
• Research Your Doctor Online
• Review Patient Surveys About Your Doctor
• Research local specialists including ratings, affiliations, and sanctions.

Hospitals & Clinics: Hypertension

Research quality ratings and patient safety measures for medical facilities in specialties related to Hypertension:

• Heart Health (Cardiac Care) -- Hospital Quality Ratings
• more hospital ratings...»

Hospital & Clinic quality ratings » »

Choosing the Best Hospital: More general information, not necessarily in relation to Hypertension, on hospital performance and surgical care quality:

• 50 Best Hospitals Report
• Outstanding Patient Experinece Award Winning Hospitals
• Women's Health Best Hospitals
• Patient Safety
• Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence Study (2009)

Hypertension: Rare Types

Rare types of diseases and disorders in related medical categories:

• Chronic Major Diseases -- Rare Types:
  • High Cholesterol -- Rare Types
  • Heart Disease -- Rare Types
  • Cancer -- Rare Types
  • Depression -- Rare Types
  • Type 2 Diabetes -- Rare Types
  • Type 1 Diabetes -- Rare Types
  • Hypertension -- Rare Types
  • Hemochromatosis -- Rare Types
  • Metabolic Syndrome -- Rare Types
• more rare diseases...»

Causes of Hypertension

• Essential hypertension - about 90-95% of cases of hypertension
• Gestational hypertension - occurring during pregnancy.
• Arteriosclerosis
• Metabolic syndrome
• PCOS
• more causes...»

See full list of 346 causes of Hypertension

More information about causes of Hypertension:

• Medications, drugs, or substances causing Hypertension (285 listings)
• Drug interactions causing Hypertension (771 listings)
• Underlying causes of Hypertension
• Hypertension as a complication caused by other conditions
• Hypertension as a symptom
• Medical news summaries relating to Causes of Hypertension

Treatments for Hypertension

• Lifestyle changes
  • Lose weight - if overweight
  • Low-salt/low-sodium diet
  • DASH diet - Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension
  • Exercise
• more treatments...»

See full list of 91 treatments for Hypertension

Latest Treatments for Hypertension

• Weight reduction
• Reduction of alcohol intake
• Reduction of sodium intake
• Increased excercise
• Reduction of particular stress
• more treatments...»

See full list of 27 latest treatments for Hypertension

News Archives for Hypertension

Medical news articles related to Hypertension include:

• Kidney Nerve Deactivation Could Ease Hypertension
• Female Hormones Deter Salt-Sensitive Hypertension
• Women at Higher Risk for Pulmonary Hypertension
• Cialis May Help Ease Pulmonary Hypertension
• Vitamin C Might Help Lower Hypertension
• more health news...»

Source: HealthDay News

Videos for Hypertension

Patient Surveys for Hypertension

• Patient Profile Survey
  Take Survey  View Results
• Survey about the symptoms of your Hypertension
  Take Survey  View Results

Prognosis for Hypertension

Prognosis for Hypertension: The prognosis relies on the level of adherence to the treatment plan as well as the individual response to treatment.

More about prognosis of Hypertension

Reseach about Hypertension

Visit our research pages for current research about Hypertension treatments.

Clinical Trials for Hypertension

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Hypertension include:

• Labetalol Versus MgSO4 for the Prevention of Eclampsia Trial - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - labetalol (seizure prevention),MgSO4 (seizure prevention)
• The Relaxation and Blood Pressure in Pregnancy (REBIP) Study - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Effectiveness of the DASH Diet at Reducing High Blood Pressure - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• A 16 Week Study to Evaluate the Effect on Insulin Sensitivity of Valsartan (320 Mg) and Hydrochlorothiazide (25 Mg) Combined and Alone, in Patients With Metabolic Syndrome - This study is no longer recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - valsartan plus hydrochlorothiazide
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Evaluating Kidney Function - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• more trials...»

See full list of 1095 Clinical Trials for Hypertension

Prevention of Hypertension

Prevention information for Hypertension has been compiled from various data sources and may be inaccurate or incomplete. None of these methods guarantee prevention of Hypertension.

• Healthy weight
• Lose weight - if you are overweight.
• Physical activity
• Exercise
• Healthy diet
• more preventions...»

Read more about prevention of Hypertension

Statistics for Hypertension

• Medical statistics for Hypertension
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Hypertension
• Death and Mortality statistics for Hypertension
• Society statistics for Hypertension

Hypertension: Broader Related Topics

• Chronic Illness
• Systemic disorders
• Blood vessel conditions
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Heart disease
• Blood conditions
• more types...»

Types of Hypertension

Types of Hypertension

• Primary Hypertension - the main type with no underlying cause
• Secondary Hypertension - where it is caused by some other underlying condition; much less common than primary hypertension.
• Hypertension subtypes based on ranges:
  • Optimal Blood Pressure - systolic < 120 mmHg and diastolic < 80 mmHg.
  • Normal Blood Pressure - systolic < 130 mmHg and diastolic < 85 mmHg.
• more types...»

See full list of 16 Types of Hypertension

Curable Types of Hypertension

Possibly curable types of Hypertension include:

• Eclampsia of pregnancy
• Hyperthyroidism induced hypertension
• Cushing's disease induced hypertension
• Conn's syndrome induced hypertension
• Drug induced hypertension- NSAIDs, hormonal contraceptives, steroids
• Tumours of the kidney induced hypertension
• more types...»

Rare Types of Hypertension:

Rare types of Hypertension include:

• Pheochromocytoma induced hypertension
• Syndrome X
• Renal hypertension
• Renal segmental hypoplasia
• Bilateral renal artery stenosis
• Coarctation of aorta
• Malignant hypertension
• more types...»

Stories from Users Related to Hypertension

• All The Suffering Here Shows Our Medical System To Be Very Lacking
• anxiety and high BP
• High blood pressure from stress? In a 28 yr old with no other risk factors... seems
• Super High Blood Pressure? Or Lie?
• Ear popping/Sinus pressure
• blood test results
• 13 month old High WBC...
• Killer cough condition
• Cant breath, pressure behind ribs, heart palipitations
• Hypertension/Anxiety
• Severe Leg/Ankle Pain & High Blood Pressure Dr. Can't find anything?!?! HELP!!
• Please help - high BAC without drinking!
• unresponsive attack, cti, eeg, extended eeg, blood test, sleep study done
• CVID???? Unknown immune disease/blood disorder...baffled!
• Teen: strange "social" behavior in high school
• High BP in 13 yr old
• Blood Pressure behaving weird
• Palpitaions, Rapid heartbeat, rising blood pressure, numbness
• Please help a child with undiagnosed systems
• primary progressive Ms???

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User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Hypertension, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

• I can not get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
• See all the forums.

Article Excerpts about Hypertension

Blood pressure measures the force of blood against the walls of your blood vessels. Blood pressure that remains high over time is called hypertension. Extra fluid in your body increases the amount of fluid in your blood vessels and makes your blood pressure higher. Narrow or clogged blood vessels also raise blood pressure. (Source: excerpt from High Blood Pressure and Kidney Disease: NIDDK)

Definitions of Hypertension:

Hypertension occurring without preexisting renal disease or known organic cause. - (Source - Diseases Database)

A common disorder in which blood pressure remains abnormally high (a reading of 140/90 mm Hg or greater) - (Source - WordNet 2.1)