Hypertension

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Hypertension High Blood Pressure Arterial Hypertension See Also these different conditions: Ventricular Hypertension Ocular Hypertension Venous Hypertension Pulmonary Hypertension Portal Hypertension
Hypertension means high pressure, and in clinical terms, just about always refers to high blood pressure - and to an abnormal condition most properly called by its full name: essential hypertension. It is possible to have fleeting episodes of high blood pressure that might be referred to as hypertension - and yet not be abnormal. For example, if faced with a herd of stampeding cattle or a firing squad, an elevation in arterial blood pressure, especially systolic blood pressure, is an expected reaction to the stress hormones and catecholamines (like adrenaline) that flood the system in such situations. If a doctor took the blood pressure of a person in either scenario (indulge me please with this extraordinarily unlikely hypothetical example) he'd be suprised unless there was systolic hypertension. In other words, a "normal" blood pressure when facing an avalanche is not normal, it's a failure to respond to a stress situation. When blood pressure remains elevated even in ordinary situations, without exertion, fear or great stress; then that is an abnormal condition. Although it is abnormal, it is not so unusual. Depending upon age, country, and lifestyle, there are populations where a big percentage of adults have hypertension. In those groups, almost everybody has what's called essential hypertension. When a person's blood pressure is abnormally high, and the word "hypertension" is used to describe a condition that is of health concern, then that means the blood pressure is higher than expected during rest - or much, much higher than expected during exercise or stress. Usually, a person will not be told by a physician that hypertension is a problem unless blood pressure readings are repeatedly elevated in situations in which no elevation is expected. Generally, in the medical condition called hypertension, it is not simply the systolic blood pressure that is elevated, but also the diastolic pressure. In other words, the pressure in the arteries is abnormally high not only when the heart is actively pumping blood out to the body, but also in the pauses in between when the pumping heart is filling with blood. The overall tone of the arterial system is too high. There are unusual specific conditions that sometimes cause hypertension, some of these will be listed later in this article. However, for the great majority of people, hypertension is a condition that doctors do not have an exact mechanistic explanation for, not yet anyway. There are empiric treatments for it and clinical knowlege, but not fully understood in terms of exact cause. This is called essential hypertension. Now hypertension can be used to refer to high pressure in other fluid filled streams and reservoirs of the body that have nothing , at least directly, to do with arterial blood pressure. Those other sorts of hypertension are in the see also box above.
		Causes of Arterial Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) In Adults In Children (before puberty)

This drawing of the arterial tree is rather stark, mostly because it's superimposed over a skeeton. It's pretty clear, though -it shows how the heart is in the center of the chest, and how the big artery of the body - the aorta, goes up from the heart and then arches down along the inside of the body, parallel to the spine, until it gets to just above the pelvis. There it forks into two branches, each goes down one leg.


In other words, a rise in blood pressure is normal and expected in extreme stress. Similarly, when going all out in physical exercise, a rise in blood pressure is what should happen in normal physiology. It might be called hypertension, but in that situation it would not be any kind of medical condition, it's not abnormal hypertension. It's important to use this word hypertension in context in order to avoid worrying over nothing. For example, there are people who lay down on an operating room table to have a procedure done without being knocked unconciousness, or before general anesthesia, who notice that a blood pressure monitor read high, or overhear personnel talking about their blood pressure. Having a high blood pressure in that situation is not abnormal, although that doesn't mean that the anesthesia doctors and nurses will not adjust it. Regulating the blood pressure to optimize the results of surgery is part of the anesthesiologists' job.

A Holistic View *by Dr. Sculerati*



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		Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Each time your heart beats, it pumps out blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is highest when your heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. When your heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic pressure....[Click for more]
		Imagine that your arteries are pipes that carry blood from your heart to the rest of your body. High blood pressure (also called hypertension) occurs when your blood moves through your arteries at a higher pressure than normal. [...Click for more]