close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffHigh blood pressure has many risk factors, including:
- Age. The risk of high blood pressure increases as you age. Through early middle age, high blood pressure is more common in men. Women are more likely to develop high blood pressure after menopause.
- Race. High blood pressure is particularly common among blacks, often developing at an earlier age than it does in whites. Serious complications, such as stroke and heart attack, also are more common in blacks.
- Family history. High blood pressure tends to run in families.
- Being overweight or obese. The more you weigh, the more blood you need to supply oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. As the volume of blood circulated through your blood vessels increases, so does the pressure on your artery walls.
- Not being physically active. People who are inactive tend to have higher heart rates. The higher your heart rate, the harder your heart must work with each contraction — and the stronger the force on your arteries. Lack of physical activity also increases the risk of being overweight.
- Using tobacco. Not only does smoking or chewing tobacco immediately raise your blood pressure temporarily, but the chemicals in tobacco can damage the lining of your artery walls. This can cause your arteries to narrow, increasing your blood pressure. Secondhand smoke can also increase your blood pressure.
- Too much salt (sodium) in your diet. Too much sodium in your diet can cause your body to retain fluid, which increases blood pressure.
- Too little potassium in your diet. Potassium helps balance the amount of sodium in your cells. If you don't get enough potassium in your diet or retain enough potassium, you may accumulate too much sodium in your blood.
- Too little vitamin D in your diet. It's uncertain if having too little vitamin D in your diet can lead to high blood pressure. Vitamin D may affect an enzyme produced by your kidneys that affects your blood pressure.
- Drinking too much alcohol. Over time, heavy drinking can damage your heart. Having more than two or three drinks in a sitting can also temporarily raise your blood pressure, as it may cause your body to release hormones that increase your blood flow and heart rate.
- Stress. High levels of stress can lead to a temporary, but dramatic, increase in blood pressure. If you try to relax by eating more, using tobacco or drinking alcohol, you may only increase problems with high blood pressure.
- Certain chronic conditions. Certain chronic conditions also may increase your risk of high blood pressure, including high cholesterol, diabetes, kidney disease and sleep apnea.
Sometimes pregnancy contributes to high blood pressure, as well.
Although high blood pressure is most common in adults, children may be at risk, too. For some children, high blood pressure is caused by problems with the kidneys or heart. But for a growing number of kids, poor lifestyle habits — such as an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise — contribute to high blood pressure.
References
- Chobanian AV, et al. The seventh report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. New England Journal of Medicine. 2003;289:2560.
- High blood pressure causes. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4603. Accessed June 8, 2010.
- High blood pressure, Factors that contribute to. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4650. Accessed June 8, 2010.
- Kaplan NM, et al. Treatment of hypertension in blacks. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed June 8, 2010.
- Wang TJ, et al. Vitamin D deficiency and risk of cardiovascular disease. Circulation. 2008;117:503.
- Kaplan NM, et al. Prehypertension and borderline hypertension. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed June 8, 2010.
- Calhoun DA, et al. Resistant hypertension: Diagnosis, evaluation and treatment. A scientific statement from the American Heart Association Professional Education Committee of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research. Hypertension. 2008;117:e510.
- Blood pressure-lowering drugs. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=159. Accessed June 8, 2010.
- Lopez L, et al. Lifestyle modification counseling for hypertensive patients: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004. American Journal of Hypertension. 2009;22:325.
- Villegas R, et al. The cumulative effect of core lifestyle behaviours on the prevalence of hypertension and dyslipidemia. BMC Public Health. 2008;8:210.
- Your guide to lowering blood pressure with DASH. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/new_dash.pdf. Accessed June 8, 2010.
- Appel LJ, et al. Dietary approaches to prevent and treat hypertension: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Hypertension. 2006;47:296.
- Pandic S, et al. Device-guided breathing exercises in the treatment of hypertension — perceptions and effects. CVD Prevention and Control. 2008;3:163.
- Natural medicines in the clinical management of hypertension. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. http://www.naturaldatabase.com. Accessed April 28, 2010.
- Home blood pressure monitoring. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=576. Accessed March 9, 2010.
- Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/DGAs2010-PolicyDocument.htm. Accessed Feb. 18, 2011.
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for high blood pressure: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force reaffirmation recommendation statement. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2007;147:783.
- Mayo Clinic statement: Aliskiren safety concern. Mayo Pharmaceutical Formulary Committee. http://mayoweb.mayo.edu/mfpfc-cmte/1112aliskirenStatement.pdf. Accessed Dec. 23, 2011.
- Novartis announces termination of ALTITUDE study with Rasilez/Tekturna in high-risk patients with diabetes and renal impairment. Novartis International AG. http://www.novartis.com/downloads/newsroom/rasilez-tekturna-information-center/20111220-rasilez-tekturna.pdf. Accessed Jan. 9, 2012.
Find Mayo Clinic on