High blood pressure is the most diagnosed condition in the US today and it is now estimated that it affects almost 72 million US citizens, including 1 out of every 3 adults. However, while we talk about high blood pressure, were you aware that there are actually two different forms of high blood pressure?

The vast majority of people suffer from what is officially known as primary or essential high blood pressure which usually has few, or no, symptoms and more often than not develops slowly over many years. A smaller, but nevertheless still significant, number of people suffer from secondary high blood pressure which arises out of an underlying medical condition and may sometimes present with a very rapid onset.

The medical conditions that may produce secondary high blood pressure are many and varied but here are a few of the more common causes:

Thyroid Problems. Excess or inadequate hormone production from the thyroid gland, seen in conditions like hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism, can, directly or indirectly, lead to a rise in blood pressure.

Obesity. Rising weight is frequently accompanied by an increase in heart rate, as the heart comes under pressure to pump an increasing volume of blood around the body, and a consequently raised pressure on the walls of the arteries.

Sleep Apnea. The frequent interruption to your breathing caused by sleep apnea results in oxygen deprivation which causes damage to the lining of the blood vessels and affects the elasticity necessary in these vessels to control blood pressure.

Dietary Supplements. Many commonly available dietary supplements, like St John's wort and ginseng, are capable of producing high blood pressure.

Kidney Problems. Your kidneys are composed of millions of tiny blood vessels and other structures that are designed to filter waste products out of the blood. When this filtering process is upset, such as in the case of polycystic kidney disease or hydronephrosis, one result is secondary high blood pressure.

This list is not of course exhaustive and could also have included such things as prescription and over-the-counter medicines, preeclampsia, diabetes, Cushing's disease and more.

High blood pressure, whether it is primary or secondary, is a serious medical problem that can result in the development of other life-threatening conditions like heart disease, cardiovascular disease and kidney failure.