Primary and Secondary hypertension
Primary, or essential, hypertension is the most common type of high blood pressure people are diagnosed with. This is the one that develops over time, the one that can take decades to show severe symptoms that you can pinpoint. The reason why people develop this type of hypertension is directly linked to a combination of factors that make it hard to identify.
The factors could include a few of the following:
- Age: People over the age of 65 are more likely to develop hypertension;
- high sodium intake (the association between the two is small, but the risk is still present);
- Living a sedentary life;
- Genetics: You can be genetically predisposed to hypertension;
- Race: non-Hispanic black individuals are at a higher risk of high blood pressure;
- Being obese;
- Living with metabolic syndrome or diabetes.
The second type of hypertension is the one that can end up being more severe, and it is the kind that can happen suddenly. Studies show that secondary hypertension is linked to a number of conditions that can lead a person to develop high blood pressure. Some of these conditions include congenital heart defects, medication side effects, sleep apnea, kidney diseases, usage of illegal drugs, and alcoholism, just to name a few!
If you want to make sure that you keep your blood pressure under control, make sure you include these foods in your diet!
