Dubbed the Silent Killer because of the insidious way it works away in the background of someone's health. High blood pressure if left untreated and ignored can lead to lethal complications in a wide variety of illnesses.

In the United States of America alone their estimate to be 50 million sufferers of High Blood Pressure. It would appear in certain cases but there are greater percentage of sufferers of high blood pressure amongst the black community as opposed to those in the white or Hispanic community in the USA

The knock on effect of high blood pressure would appear to be worse for those within the black community. It would appear that the risks and incidences of high blood pressure increase proportionately with age with over three quarters of women and 4/6 of men over the age of 75 being classified as sufferers.

For those suffering with clinical obesity the incidences of high blood pressure rise by 200%.

In the United States, only an estimated two of three people with high blood pressure have been diagnosed. Of these people, about 75% receive drug treatment, and of these, about 45% receive adequate treatment.

Hypertension is calculated by way of registering two figures. The first figure is the highest and reflects the highest pressure in the arteries upon contraction of the heart during the process known as systole. As would appear logical the second figure relates to the process of contraction within the heart known as diastole.

Blood pressure is written as systolic pressure/diastolic pressure-for example, 120/80 mm Hg (millimetres of mercury). This reading is referred to as "120 over 80."High blood pressure is defined as a systolic pressure at rest that averages 140 mm Hg or more, a diastolic pressure at rest that averages 90 mm Hg or more, or both.

However, the higher the blood pressure, the greater the risks-even within the normal blood pressure range-so these limits are somewhat arbitrary. The limits were established because people with blood pressure above these levels are at increasing risk of complications.

In most people with high blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic pressures are high. The exception is older people who commonly have high systolic pressure (140 mm Hg or more) with normal or low diastolic pressure (less than 90 mm Hg).

This disorder is called isolated systolic hypertension. Blood pressure that is more than 180/110 mm Hg and does not produce any symptoms is " a hypertensive urgency.

There has been an additional condition recognized as malignant hypertension and this occurs when blood pressure readings are in excess of 210/120 mm Hg. This additional condition has only been known to occur in Approximately 1 out of every 200 incidences of high blood pressure.

However, it is several times more common among blacks than among whites, among men than among women, and among people in lower socioeconomic groups than among those in higher socioeconomic groups. Unlike hypertensive urgency, malignant hypertension may produce a variety of severe symptoms. If untreated, malignant hypertension usually leads to death in 3 to 6 months.