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Causes of high blood pressure
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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The causes of high blood pressure are often associated with systematic stress and anxiety, and people with a hereditary predisposition are also prone to hypertension. The environment plays an important role in the development of the disease.
If the disease is diagnosed in time and treatment is started, it is possible to prevent the development of more serious consequences, however, in most cases the first symptoms are ignored, and therefore no treatment is carried out.
In some cases, pressure can increase even in a completely healthy person, however, in such situations, pressure very rarely reaches critical values and does not pose a danger to health and life.
Increased pressure can occur due to excessive consumption of saturated fatty or hidden acids - animal fats (butter, sour cream), palm, coconut fat, cheese, sausages, chocolate. In addition, high blood pressure can be provoked by salty food, for example, semi-finished products, packaged products contain a large amount of salt, and passion for such food leads to the development of hypertension.
Salt in high doses worsens the condition of blood vessels, makes them less elastic and fragile, and also causes structural changes in the arteries, which affects the physiological systems of the body.
Another cause of high blood pressure is excessive alcohol consumption. In small doses, alcohol does not affect blood pressure, but high doses of alcohol lead to increased heart rate, which in turn causes increased blood pressure.
A sedentary lifestyle, overexertion, stress – all this can also cause the development of hypertension. Modern living conditions require a person to perform large amounts of work, while they need to cope with their personal difficulties on their own. Many people who are engaged in intellectual work experience severe emotional overexertion. Increased blood pressure can be the body's reaction to a stressful state or overexertion.
Another factor that can lead to hypertension is smoking, which increases the tone of blood vessels, reduces their elasticity, narrows them and provokes the formation of sediment on the walls, as a result of which blood pressure increases.
Hypertension often develops in people who are overweight, have certain chronic diseases, and also with age.
Causes of high blood pressure
The causes of high blood pressure are often associated with prolonged nervous strain and stress. People whose professional activities involve mental work or who experience severe nervous shocks during their work usually suffer from hypertension.
High blood pressure usually develops due to diseases of the heart muscle, for example, myocardial diseases (infarction, myocardial sclerosis, myocarditis).
Disruption of venous blood flow to the heart and overexertion cause an increase in cardiac pressure (lower), while the upper pressure remains normal, since cardiac output does not change.
When blood pressure increases, a feeling of weakness, dizziness, and headache appear.
The main danger of high blood pressure is that in this condition the likelihood of developing a heart attack or stroke increases significantly.
If there is a regular increase in lower pressure by 5 mm, then the risk of stroke increases by 30%.
Other diseases of internal organs can also cause increased blood pressure.
For example, when kidney disease occurs, blood flow through the kidneys decreases, which increases the production of substances that increase the tone of the peripheral arteries, as a result of which heart pressure begins to increase.
Another cause of high blood pressure may be disorders of the endocrine system, obesity, and diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
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Causes of high blood pressure
Causes of high blood pressure are usually associated with dysfunction of internal organs or systems. Upper (systolic) pressure increases for various reasons, such as anemia, increased activity of the adrenal glands, thyroid gland, improper functioning of the aortic valve, kidney disease. Even if a person snores in his sleep, this can lead to an increase in upper pressure.
The most common cause of this condition is age-related changes that affect the walls of large arteries. Normally, arteries should expand when the heart pumps blood out and then narrow, but with age, elasticity decreases, which disrupts the ability of arteries to contract and expand normally. In addition, fat gradually accumulates on the walls of the arteries, which causes atherosclerosis, the arteries become less elastic, resistance increases, and it is harder for the heart to work. A gradual decrease in the elasticity of the arteries leads to an increase in upper pressure and a decrease in lower pressure. Usually after 50 years, lower pressure normalizes, and upper pressure can increase over the years.
An important role in increasing upper pressure is played by gender and the associated features of the aging body. Up to 50 years of age, women practically do not suffer from this disease, but after this age, the number of women suffering from high blood pressure, especially upper, increases sharply.
The exact reasons why older women are prone to hypertension are currently unknown, but some experts believe that hormones play a major role.
Causes of high lower pressure
The causes of high blood pressure are associated with various factors.
In 20% of cases, the causes of elevated lower pressure are lack of physical activity, excess weight, heredity, frequent stress, abuse of salty foods, alcohol, smoking, while upper pressure remains normal.
In some cases, low blood pressure may increase due to kidney disease or endocrine disorders.
When the lower pressure is high, fibrin and cholesterol are deposited on the walls of blood vessels, which is extremely dangerous to health.
Causes of high diastolic pressure
Causes of high blood pressure are often associated with chronic diseases. Diastolic pressure can increase both in young people and in older people.
In some cases, the causes of such a disorder remain unknown for a long time (usually when the patient has no associated diseases).
In most cases, the causes of high diastolic pressure are thyroid dysfunction, kidney disease, musculoskeletal system disease, and weakened cardiac output.
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Causes of high systolic pressure
The causes of high blood pressure can be associated with various disorders, for example, high systolic pressure causes thyroid dysfunction, anemia, improper functioning of the aortic valve, etc.
Systolic pressure can be elevated at any age, but for different reasons. For example, in adolescence, elevated upper pressure is associated with changes in hormonal levels; usually, after puberty is over, the pressure normalizes. Some observations show that most people who suffered from high systolic pressure in adolescence developed hypertension after 40.
Systolic hypertension most often occurs in patients over 65 years of age; at this age, the causes of the disorder are primarily associated with decreased vascular elasticity, in particular due to atherosclerosis and calcification.
With high systolic pressure, pain in the heart area, shortness of breath, fatigue, and headache may appear.
Causes of high blood pressure in the morning
The causes of high blood pressure in the morning may be related to a disturbance in nervous regulation. After sleep, when the stage of wakefulness begins, parasympathetic nervous regulation should smoothly transition to sympathetic, however, at a certain point this process is disrupted and a sharp transition occurs, which leads to an increase in pressure.
It is considered normal if the pressure does not increase much in the morning, but a large jump, for example from 110 mm to 180-200 mm (even if everything returned to normal an hour later) is considered a pathology, and as statistics show, strokes most often occur during such periods.
Also, a fatty and high-calorie dinner, an incorrect or uncomfortable body position during sleep, which leads to a disruption of blood flow and, as a result, an increase in pressure, can contribute to an increase in blood pressure in the morning.
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Causes of high blood pressure in men
The causes of high blood pressure in men can be associated not only with lifestyle, but also with attitude towards life and work.
As noted, hypertension most often affects people who have a strong sense of responsibility, ambition, who strive to do everything at the highest level, and perceive problems, even minor ones, as a personal tragedy. As experts recommend, such people should change their attitude to what is happening, try to protect themselves as much as possible from stressful situations.
Another reason for high blood pressure in men can be nutrition. Quite often, business meetings, irregular working hours, etc. force a man to eat in cafes and restaurants, however, such food can be dangerous to health and provoke the development of hypertension. First of all, cafes and restaurants add a lot of salt to dishes, and other additives (for example, sodium glutamate) can also be used, which make the taste more intense. But an excessive amount of sodium retains water in the body, which leads to narrowing of blood vessels and a slow increase in pressure.
Another danger of “restaurant food” is the large amount of fats that contribute to the development of obesity, and, as is known, the likelihood of developing hypertension increases sixfold in overweight people.
Smoking and alcohol abuse are probably the most common causes of hypertension in men. After each cigarette, blood pressure increases for a short time, and can reach significant levels, which negatively affects the elasticity of blood vessels.
Severe hypertension in men can develop due to night snoring, especially if there is excess weight.
Causes of high blood pressure in women
The causes of high blood pressure in women can be associated not only with overwork and stress, but also with problems in the urinary system, which leads to fluid retention in the body.
Hypertension can also develop as a result of dysfunction of the endocrine system, in the premenstrual period, after menopause, and also during the use of certain medications.
Often, in women of reproductive age, hypertension develops against the background of taking oral contraceptives (birth control pills contain estrogens, which in 5% of cases can provoke an increase in blood pressure).
Hypertension can affect overly emotional women who experience heart problems due to frequent and intense experiences.
Causes of high blood pressure in teenagers
The causes of high blood pressure in adolescence are most often associated with constant strong nervous tension and negative emotions. Such conditions can be caused by a heavy workload at school, extracurricular activities (with a tutor, music, etc.).
Another common cause of high blood pressure in adolescents may be the onset of puberty and the associated change in hormonal levels.
Hypertension can also develop as a result of heredity, kidney disease, or dysfunction of the endocrine system.
Causes of high blood pressure during pregnancy
The causes of high blood pressure in pregnant women are most often associated with low tissue sensitivity to insulin, which is caused by changes in hormonal levels (more often in the second half of pregnancy).
Blood pressure can also increase due to a lack of magnesium in the body, abuse of salty foods, improper functioning of the thyroid gland, dysfunction of the urinary system, and excess weight.
High blood pressure during pregnancy is often associated with the development of gestosis (late toxicosis).
Often, the expectant mother suffers from high blood pressure (chronic hypertension) even before pregnancy, but during pregnancy the disease worsens and the woman’s condition worsens significantly.
With gestational hypertension, a pregnant woman often experiences a short-term increase in blood pressure, while other disorders such as swelling, high protein levels in the urine are not observed. In some cases, this condition precedes the development of preeclampsia (blood pressure above 140/90, the appearance of protein in the urine). This condition is considered a full-fledged late toxicosis.
The most unfavorable combination is considered to be chronic hypertension and preeclampsia, since such disorders are difficult to treat.
After preeclampsia, an even more severe complication may develop – eclampsia, in which the pregnant woman begins to have convulsions throughout the body, and possible loss of consciousness. Eclampsia is very similar to epileptic seizures, which the pregnant woman has not had before.
This condition is extremely dangerous for both the woman and the fetus. During seizures, the woman may be injured when falling, and a cerebral hemorrhage may occur. At such moments, the fetus experiences severe oxygen starvation, and intrauterine fetal death is possible.
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Causes of tachycardia with high blood pressure
The causes of high blood pressure are different, but regardless of them, the heart muscle in this pathology pumps quite large volumes of blood, which leads to overloads that cause some changes, for example, an increase in the left ventricle due to increased cardiac output.
Tachycardia with increased pressure is often manifested by a sharp increase in heartbeat (from 130 beats per minute), untimely contractions of the heart muscle. Such conditions can last from several minutes to several days.
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Causes of dizziness with high blood pressure
The causes of high blood pressure can be different, but the main symptoms of the pathology are headaches, tingling in the heart, and dizziness.
Dizziness with increased pressure is caused by circulatory disorders, when the blood flow to the brain decreases. With hypertension, spasm and narrowing of the lumen in the vessels is observed. With a constant increase in pressure, irreversible changes begin in the walls of the vessels, sclerosis and even greater narrowing of the lumen occur, as a result of which the brain does not receive a sufficient amount of nutrients and oxygen.
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Causes of Constantly High Blood Pressure
The causes of high blood pressure are different, some provoke a temporary increase in pressure, some lead to the fact that the pressure is constantly elevated and treatment is required, in particular taking antihypertensive drugs.
The main cause of constant high blood pressure is disorders in the endocrine and urinary systems, and obesity.
The causes of high blood pressure are varied, but it should be remembered that hypertension, if not addressed in time and not treated, can cause the development of serious consequences, in particular, high blood pressure can lead to an exacerbation of prostatitis in men, heart disease and vascular disease.