ABSTRACT
Hypertension is a relatively new disease which was discovered when accurate methods of measuring blood pressure were developed in the 1920s. It is extremely unfortunate that the name given to high blood pressure was ‘hypertension’. It is meant to indicate that the tension of the arteries has increased and so causes a rise in the blood pressure. Unfortunately the population at large believes that it means hypertension is caused by stress. There is no evidence for this whatsoever.
