According to the figure put forth by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of America, there are more men than women who are afflicted with hypertension, between the age bracket of 45 to 65 years. However, the trend reverses in the bracket of over 65 years, where the number of women suffering from hypertension is higher in comparison to men. Hypertension is easily one of the most serious health related problems to deal with in America with one amongst three people in clutches of this deadly disease.

Most of us are aware that a high blood pressure is represented by two numbers. The higher one or a systolic pressure and the lower one or is the diastolic pressure. If the higher number is above 120mm/Hg and the lower one is above 80mm/Hg, a person is termed to be hypertensive. However, isolated hypertension is also a condition which is prevalent these days. In this condition, the systolic blood pressure consistently hovers around the 140mm/Hg mark whereas the diastolic pressure remains around 90 mm/Hg.

Earlier, isolated hypertension was considered to be a potentially harmless condition. However, today it is associated with several health related complications. It is considered to be a condition which can lead to several potential health complications. Some of these might include a stroke, an enlarged hear t, a heart attack and other cardiac complications. Mostly, isolated hypertension is a condition which is attributed to stress and anxiety related causes.

Hypertension - Causes

Although it continues to be one of the most prominent illnesses in America, the cause of hypertension may not always be known. Both primary and secondary hypertension can be caused due to several known and unknown factors. Whereas, secondary hypertension is caused to malfunctioning of other organs like the heart and the kidneys, some of the common causes of primary hypertension might include the following:

To begin with, the occurrence of hypertension is often based on genetics. 30% cases of hypertension in America are known to be caused due to genetic factors.
Obesity is another cause of high blood pressure. Most often it is accompanied with unhealthy lifestyle practices and lack of physical exercise. This complicates matters even further.
An increase in salt intake can also be attributed to one of the major causes for high blood pressure.
Dietary imbalance pertaining to a high percentage of oil and fat intakes can also contribute to high blood pressure. An inclusion of fresh fruit and vegetables can act as a suitable correction.

These are some of the most commonplace causes for hypertension.

Assessing Organ Damage in Hypertensive Patients

Most of us are aware of the latent disasters associated with high blood pressure. Quite often, chronic high blood pressure is a condition which affects the heart, the brain, kidneys and the eyes. Some of the tests which could be carried out for assessing these conditions would include:

For the heart there are tests like the chest X-Ray, echocardiogram and echocardiography, which can be performed for checking on the enlarging of the heart muscle, irregular heart rhythms and associated abnormalities. These conditions could be precursors to heart related ailments and complications.
The creatinine level of the kidneys needs to be checked. A high creatinine level signals deterioration in kidney function. Moreover, the presence of protein in the urine, also known as protienuria is also a signal of the kidneys having been damaged due to uncontrolled high blood pressure.
The eyes of a hypertensive patient also need to be checked with an ophthalmoscope. The back of the eyes needs to be examined for abnormalities in the retina and the likes.

These timely tests could prove effective in detecting associated organ malfunctions early in the day.