Causes of High Blood Pressure

The causes of high blood pressure fall into two categories, primary and secondary hypertension.

Primary Hypertension

For most people, the cause of hypertension cannot be determined and takes many years to develop. This is called primary hypertension.

There are however, certain risk factors that have been shown to be linked to high blood pressure. These include:

• Family history of high blood pressure
• Being overweight
• Race
• Age
• Stress
• Being a Smoker
• Being sedentary and lack of physical activity
• High salt intake
• Heavy drinking (alcohol)

Most of the causes are genetic or lifestyle related.

Secondary Hypertension

In secondary hypertension, the cause of high blood pressure is known. Often times, it is caused by an underlying condition like:

• kidney disease
• pregnancy
• adrenal gland tumors
• certain medications like birth control pills and cough medication
• illegal drugs