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Kaitlynn Douglas
Research Paper
HLTH 1020 Widdison
October 23, 2016
High Blood Pressure
Hypertension is also known as high blood pressure. Blood pressure is described as the
force of blood as it pushes against the walls of your blood vessels. Your heart is what exerts the
pumping of the blood. Because of this force, the blood vessels contract and expand in response to
this. High blood pressure is described by two numbers to refer to is as hypotension, hypertension,
or a normal healthy blood pressure.(Maier 86)
Diastolic and systolic are the names of the two numbers that describe blood pressure.
These two number are represented in a fraction. Diastolic is the bottom number and the systolic
regards the top number of the fraction. Diastolic blood pressure is the blood pressure that occurs
when the heart is relaxing. Systolic blood pressure occurs when the blood is exerted by the blood
against the walls of the blood vessels as the heart contracts.(Maier 86)
A normal blood pressure is considered when the systolic reads 120 and the diastolic reads
80. A blood pressure is taken with the combination of a stethoscope and a Sphygmometer. The
stethoscope is what hears the heartbeat to record the numerical numbers of the measurement. The
Sphygmometer is what applies the pressure so that one can physically hear the beats. One would
report this normal, healthy blood pressure as 120/80. When a blood pressure, and the blood being
exerted by the heart, it too low, it is referred to as hypotension. In medical terminology, the suffix
hypo- is defined as below. Someone is diagnosed hypotension when the systolic reads below 90

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and a diastolic of below the number 60. Hypertension is diagnosed when ones systolic ranges
above 140 and the diastolic ranges above 90 persistently.(Maier 86) An eye opening statistic
says that a person that is diagnosed with hypertension compared to a person with a healthy
normally functioning heart is six times more likely to have a heart attack in their lifetime.(Maier
86)
Hypertension is considered a non communicable disease. This means that this particular
medical condition is not transmissible or infectious towards others. Causes of hypertension are
external or genetically influenced. Because your heart has to work harder by exerting enough
blood that your body is now asking for, your blood pressure to rises to unhealthy numbers. The
most common causes to hypertension include diet, genetics, and other cardiovascular obstacles
you encounter as a human.
Hypertension and obesity are some of the leading causes of premature death in the
United States. (Livingstone) A statistic says that 65 to 75% of all hypertension diagnosis are
linking to obesity and excessive weight gain. (Livingstone) Obesity, or problematic weight gain,
is the result of increasing fatty tissue in comparison to muscle mass. Fatty tissue relies on oxygen
and other nutrients you give your body to produce energy. When your body is taking on large
amounts of fatty tissue, your body is only going to need more of those given nutrients to feed the
excess fat tissue. With more fat tissue, the body needs to create more blood to feed the new
amounts of fat. When your body needs more blood that what it is normally adapted to, the heart
has to work harder to supply the needed amount of blood throughout your blood vessels. When
the heart is pushing more blood through the vessels, it exerts more pressure against the vessels,

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creating a higher blood pressure reading. That being said, diet is vital when concerning the
effects of gaining excess fat tissue. (Maier 86)
Genetics also factor into the probability of one being diagnosed with hypertension.
Groups that can be more affected by hypertension include African-American, women, and the
offspring of people who have been diagnosed. In addition to genetics, causes of hypertension can
include advanced age, gender-related risk patterns, lack of physical activity, and poor diet.
(American Heart Association)
Age is a huge cause of hypertension. As the body ages, the heart and blood vessels lose
their optimum capacity of performing. The heart tends to not be as strong and also the blood
vessels lose their flexibility. When the vessels lose their flexibility, it can contribute to unwanted
pressure in some areas throughout the system. Gender is also a cause. Women tend to not only
have a higher percentage be diagnosed with hypertension, but also at a younger age. (American
Heart Association)
When a person becomes overweight or obese it is known for hypertension to be the first
repercussion medically to your body when putting on excessive fat to your body. Lack of
exercise and poor diet are the largest of contributors to one being diagnosed with hypertension.
You have to take care of your body to have it take care of you. That statement goes a long way
when concerning your blood pressure. Working your heart and exercising regularly strengthens
your heart and circulatory system. Being inactive not only increases your chance of having
hypertension, but also you fall under possibly having heart disease, blood vessel disease, and
even a stroke. Poor diet comes right after lack of physical activity when concerning
hypertension. Salt is the largest contributor. A human needs a wide variety of nutrients from

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many different areas of the food groups. Not only that, but making sure that you are not
including too much sodium is a must because of the effects of salt. Sodium keeps excess fluid in
the body that can add more work to the heart by doing that. Sodium intake should be limited to
2,300 milligrams per day. Stated in 2015 by Dietary Guidelines;
Research has shown a direct relationship between sodium intake and blood pressure and
every incremental decrease in sodium intake that moves toward recommended limits is
encouraged. (Kohn)
Eating healthy is necessary to lower your blood pressure. (American Heart Association) There
are several health complications that come after being diagnosed with hypertension. As stated
earlier, when hypertension is being ignored and no lifestyle changes are made ones condition can
go further than just having a high blood pressure. When your heart is working as hard as it is
when a human has high blood pressure, you can then be diagnosed with heart failure. With your
blood vessels working so much harder, one can also be diagnosed with blood vessel disease. The
final most deadly effect of having hypertension is having an unexpected stroke and killing them.
(American Heart Association)
After being diagnosed with hypertension, the first thing one should look into is the
preventative measure that can be taken to reverse a hypertensive diagnosis. Prevention can come
from many different areas of one life. If my family in particular, diet is the primary problem.
When one changes their diet, for example, reducing salt alone, can decrease your high blood
pressure. (American Heart Association)
In addition to applying a healthy diet to your life, you need to enjoy is regular exercise.
You do not need to go the gym everyday for hours of the day. Simple small changes can still

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make a difference in many cases. Maintaining a healthy weight is huge. By losing weight and
exercising, you are taking the hard work off your heart and blood vessels. When you lose the
excess adipose tissue that your body had, your heart does not have to supply more blood to that
fatty tissue. Also, when you are exercising, you are strengthening your heart. (American Heart
Association) A preventative measure that can be taken, that not many are aware of, is managing
your stress levels. Stress has a huge impact on the body physically and mentally. (STRESS
ARTICLE)
There are many treatment options that go into helping someone lower their high blood
pressure. It is very similar to the preventative measures. In a study done by the Dietary
Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) stated;
When a diet high in fruit and vegetables and low-fat dairy products and low in
processed meat, reduced hypertension. Our findings demonstrate that diet quality may
play an important role in lowering the odds ratio of hypertension in obese
individuals. (Livingstone)
When it comes to the treatment of hypertension, there is no immediate cure or medicine that can
switch the diagnosis around. However, diet is the first thing that you can do to put yourself on
the right direction. A diet that has been made by the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension
(DASH) is specifically created for people with hypertension. The diet is referred to as a heart
healthy diet. By doing this paper, there has been much learning on that fact. People that are
diagnosed with hypertension should consult with their physician what the best course of action is
individually for someone. Another form of treatment that is available is a prescription from your
physician that helps lower your blood pressure. These medications include Diuretics, Beta

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blockers, Angiotensin, calcium channel blockers or Renin inhibitors. With the many prescriptions
that are available seeing your most common physician is vital to your treatment. (Mayo Clinic)
When it comes to lowering your blood pressure, the bottom line is to follow a healthy diet and to
make sure you are keeping a healthy weight with increasing your physical activity. (Kohn)
The topic of hypertension was my first topic of choice because of my familys
predisposed genetic disease that is carried through generations. A genetic predisposition disease
is most often inherited by parents given to their offspring. Genetic variations have large impact
on the likelihood of the offspring getting the carrying diseases. (Genetics Home) Diet
composition has great impact as well. When ones diet composition is higher than normal, and
there is predisposed hypertension in someone's genetics, the chances of one getting hypertension
is almost inevitable. Generation to generation this condition has been passed on in my family.
Not only has hypertension been passed on by generations in my family, but so has unhealthy
weight gain. This has played a large factor of inheriting the disease very increased. (Genetics
Home)
It is often that one genetically inherited diseases and conditions from their family. It is
also often that having an unhealthy lifestyle contributes to countless negative diagnosis. With the
combination of both it has made myself and many within my family susceptible to being
diagnosed with hypertension. Hypertension, luckily, is not a permanent diagnosis. There are
many different routes one can take to redirect their high blood pressure. With a healthy diet and a
positive course of action to change current lifestyle physically one can overcome hypertension.

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Bibliography
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