What is Hypertension?
Essential hypertension can be defined as a rise of blood pressure of unknown cause that in-creases risk for cerebral, cardiac, and renal events [1].
Blood pressure itself is the pressure exerted by the blood on the walls of the blood vessels. Each time the heart beats (about 60-70 times a minute at rest); it pumps blood into the arteries. Blood pressure is at its highest when the heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic blood pressure. When the heart is at rest, between beats, blood pressure falls. This is diastolic pressure.
Blood pressure follows a circadian rhythm in a normal individual [2,3]. Blood pressure falls during sleep and rises rapidly just before we awake, which is when the risk of cardiovascular events is the highest.
Blood pressure itself is the pressure exerted by the blood on the walls of the blood vessels. Each time the heart beats (about 60-70 times a minute at rest); it pumps blood into the arteries. Blood pressure is at its highest when the heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic blood pressure. When the heart is at rest, between beats, blood pressure falls. This is diastolic pressure.
Blood pressure follows a circadian rhythm in a normal individual [2,3]. Blood pressure falls during sleep and rises rapidly just before we awake, which is when the risk of cardiovascular events is the highest.
Muller et all. N Engl J Med 1985; 313: 1315-1322
Marler et all. Stroke 1989; 20 : 473-476
Blood pressure itself is not harmful - it is essential as it is the force that drives blood through the blood vessels to supply oxygen and nutrients to the body's organs and tissues and carry away waste materials. However, when blood pressure becomes too high it has damaging effects on almost every part of the body and can lead to serious illness and death [3,4].
