Because it usually does not cause symptoms for many years?until a vital organ is damaged'it has been called "the silent killer." 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.



In the USA initial investigations would seem to highlight that within the black community 32% off the community how to high blood pressure as opposed to 23% within the White and Hispanic communities. The knock on effect of high blood pressure would appear to be worse for those within the black community.

There is no doubt about that at high blood pressure does increase as we age with the figure is called 75% of women and 66% of men over the age of 75 being treated for high blood pressure. For those suffering with clinical obesity the incidences of high blood pressure rise by 200%.

It is a staggering figure that possibly only two thirds of the potential high blood pressure sufferers in the US have been diagnosed. Of this figure about three quarters are receiving medical treatment and of this first three quarters only 50% are receiving adequate treatment.

When blood pressure is checked, two values are recorded. The higher value reflects the highest pressure in the arteries, which is reached when the heart contracts (during systole). As would appear logical the second figure relates to the process of contraction within the heart known as diastole.

The traditional way of reporting blood pressure figures is calculated in millimetres of mercury and described as the systolic over the diastolic (120 over 80 etc). 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.

It is now generally accepted that no matter how small the rise in high blood pressure the greater the chance is of complications arising from associated medical conditions.The limits were established because people with blood pressure above these levels are at increasing risk of complications.

Research has shown that it is not unusual for raised figures in both systolic and diastolic pressures for sufferers of high blood pressure. The one major exception to this widely accepted approach towards blood pressure is when it is arising through increased age whereby it is not uncommon to see a raised systolic pressure alongside a normal diastolic figure.

The term for this condition is ?isolated systolic hypertension?. At the upper end of the spectrum where the blood pressure is over 180/110 and remains so with a lack of associated symptoms then this condition is deemed to be known as ?a hypertensive urgency.?

Where the blood pressure is particularly severe and in excess of 210/120 mm Hg then the condition is deemed to be known as malignant hypertension. This additional condition has only been known to occur in approximately 1 out of every 200 incidences of high blood pressure.

For some apparent reason that is not necessarily had an adequate medical explanation the incidences of malignant hypertension are increased within the black community and those within the lowest socioeconomic groups. This type of hypertension is unlike hypertensive urgency in that it produces a variety of severe symptoms. Malignant hypertension if left untreated can lead to fatal consequences within six months.