ABSTRACT

Hypertension is a pervasive medical condition characterized by high blood pressure (HBP) in the arteries. Hypertension is the same as HBP. Normal blood pressure can be dened as a combination of systolic blood pressure (SBP) of less than 120 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of less than 80 mmHg, both are often reported as 120/80 mmHg. HBP can be divided into three classes:

6.2 RISK FACTORS FOR HYPERTENSION

Like many chronic degenerative diseases, HBP is a multifactorial disease with several risk factors including nonmodiable factors as well as modiable ones. Age, genetics, gender, race, low weight at birth, and diabetes are the major nonmodiable risk factors for hypertension. The prevalence of hypertension is highest among persons aged 65 years old or more; about 70% of old people are affected by hypertension. Age-related HBP has a high incidence of multiple comorbidities. The U.S. prevalence of hypertension is highest among African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans. As far as race is concerned, nonchloride sodium salts do not necessarily elevate blood pressure in most ethnic groups but do so in salt-sensitive black people.