Medical expert of the article
New publications
Causes of hypertension
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
The causes of increased blood pressure are often associated with systemic stresses and experiences, and people with hereditary predisposition are also prone to hypertension. An important factor in the development of the disease is the environment.
If you diagnose the disease in time and start treatment, you can prevent the development of more serious consequences, however, in most cases, the first symptoms are ignored, and therefore, no medical measures are taken.
In some cases, the pressure may increase even in a completely healthy person, however, in such situations, pressure rarely reaches critical values and does not pose a threat 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 saline food can cause high blood pressure, for example, in semi-finished products, packaged foods contain a large amount of salt, and the infatuation with such food leads to the development of hypertension.
Salt in high doses worsens the condition of the vessels, makes them less elastic and brittle, and also causes structural changes in the arteries, which affects the physiological systems of the body.
Another cause of increased blood pressure is excessive drinking. In small doses, alcohol does not affect pressure, but high doses of alcohol lead to increased heart rate, which in turn causes an increase in pressure.
A sedentary lifestyle, overstrain, stress - all this can also lead to the development of hypertension. Modern living conditions require a person to perform large amounts of work, while you need to cope with their own personal difficulties. Many people who are engaged in intellectual work experience strong emotional overstrain. The increase in pressure can be a reaction of the body to stress or overstrain.
Another factor that can lead to hypertension is smoking, which increases the tone of the vessels, leads to a decrease in their elasticity, narrows and provokes the formation of sediment on the walls, resulting in increased blood pressure.
Quite often hypertension develops in people with excess weight, some chronic diseases, and also with age.
Causes of increased cardiac pressure
The causes of high blood pressure are often associated with prolonged nervous overstresses, stress. Typically, people with hypertension suffer from mental health problems, or who are experiencing severe nervous breakdowns during work.
Increased heart pressure usually develops due to heart muscle diseases, for example, with myocardial diseases (myocardial infarction, myocardiosclerosis, myocarditis).
Violation of the influx of venous blood to the heart, overvoltage causes an increase in cardiac pressure (lower), while the upper pressure remains normal, since the cardiac output does not change.
With an increase in cardiac pressure, there is a feeling of weakness, dizziness, headache.
The main danger of increasing cardiac pressure is that in such a state the probability of developing a heart attack or stroke is significantly increased.
If there is a regular increase in the lower pressure by 5 mm, the risk of stroke increases by 30%.
The cause of increased cardiac pressure may also be other diseases of the internal organs.
For example, kidney disease reduces blood flow through the kidneys, which increases the production of substances that increase the tone of the peripheral arteries, as a result of cardiac pressure begins to increase.
Another cause of high cardiac pressure may be disruption of the endocrine system, obesity, diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
Causes of increased upper pressure
The causes of hypertension are usually associated with impaired functioning of internal organs or systems. The upper (systolic) pressure rises for various reasons, for example, with anemia, increased activity of the adrenal glands, thyroid gland, malfunctioning of the aortic valve, kidney disease. Even if a person snores in a dream, this can lead to an increase in the upper pressure.
The most common cause of this condition is the age-related changes that affect the walls of large arteries. Normally, the arteries should expand when the blood is ejected by the heart, and after narrowing, but with age, the elasticity decreases, resulting in a disruption in the ability of the arteries to contract and expand normally. In addition, fat gradually accumulates on the walls of the arteries, which causes the development of atherosclerosis, the arteries become less elastic, the resistance increases and the heart is harder to work. The gradual decrease in the elasticity of the arteries leads to an increase in the upper pressure and a lowering of the lower one. Usually, after 50 years, the lower pressure is normalized, and the upper pressure may increase with years.
An important role in increasing the upper pressure is played by sex and the associated aging characteristics of the organism. Until 50 years, women practically do not suffer from this disease, but after this age the number of women suffering from increased blood pressure, especially the upper one, increases sharply.
Now the exact reasons why women in old age are subject to hypertension are not known, but according to some experts, the main role in this is played by hormones.
Causes of increased lower pressure
The causes of hypertension are associated with various factors.
In 20% of cases, the causes of increased lower pressure are lack of physical activity, excess weight, heredity, frequent stresses, abuse of salty foods, alcohol, smoking, while the upper pressure remains normal.
Lower pressure in some cases may increase against a background of kidney disease or endocrine disorders.
At high low pressure, fibrin and cholesterol are deposited on the walls of the vessels, which is extremely dangerous for health.
Causes of increased diastolic pressure
The causes of high blood pressure are often associated with chronic diseases. Diastolic pressure can increase both at a young age, and in the elderly.
In some cases, the reasons for such a violation remain unsettled for a long time (usually when the patient does not have concomitant diseases).
In most cases, the causes of high diastolic pressure are disruption of the thyroid gland, kidney disease, musculoskeletal system, weakening of cardiac emissions.
[16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22]
Causes of increased systolic pressure
The causes of hypertension can be associated with various disorders, for example, high systolic pressure causes a violation of the thyroid gland function, anemia, abnormal aortic valve operation, etc.
Systolic pressure can be increased at any age, but for different reasons. For example, in adolescence, increased upper pressure is associated with a change in the hormonal background, usually after the puberty is over, the pressure is normalized. Some observations show that most people who during adolescence suffered from high systolic pressure, after 40 developed hypertension.
Most systolic hypertension occurs in patients after age 65, at this age, the causes of the disorder are primarily associated with a decrease in vascular elasticity, in particular because of atherosclerosis and calcification.
With high systolic pressure, pain in the heart, dyspnea, fatigue, headache may occur.
Causes of hypertension in the mornings
The causes of increased blood pressure in the morning can be associated with a violation of nervous regulation. After sleep, when the waking phase comes, the parasympathetic nervous regulation should smoothly change into sympathetic, however, at some point this process is broken and a sharp transition occurs, which leads to an increase in pressure.
Normally, if the pressure rises not much in the morning, but a big jump, for example, from 110 mm to 180-200 mm (even if everything is normal in an hour) is considered a pathology, and as statistics show, in such periods strokes most often occur.
Also, a high-fat and high-calorie supper, an incorrect or uncomfortable position of the body during sleep, can lead to increased pressure in the morning, which leads to blood flow disturbance and, as a consequence, increased blood pressure.
[25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30]
Causes of hypertension in men
The causes of increased pressure in men can be associated with not only the way of life, but also the attitude to life, to work.
As it was noted, people with a strong sense of responsibility, ambition, who strive to do everything at the highest level, and perceive problems, even insignificant ones, as a personal tragedy, are most often affected by hypertension. As experts recommend, such people should change their attitude towards what is happening, try to protect themselves as much as possible from stressful situations.
Another reason for high blood pressure in men may be nutrition. Quite often business meetings, irregular working hours, etc. Force a man to eat in cafes, restaurants, however, such food can be dangerous to health and provoke the development of hypertension. First of all, in cafes and restaurants in the dish put a lot of salt, other additives (for example, sodium glutamate), which make the taste more saturated, can also be used. But an excessive amount of sodium delays the water in the body, which leads to a narrowing of the 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, in full people the probability of developing hypertension rises sixfold.
Smoking and alcohol abuse are most likely the most common causes of hypertension in men. After each cigarette, the arterial pressure increases for a short time, while it can reach significant values, and this negatively affects the elasticity of the vessels.
Severe hypertension in men can develop due to night snoring, especially if there is excess weight.
The causes of high blood pressure in women
The causes of increased pressure in women can be associated not only with fatigue, stress, but also with disruptions in the urinary system, which leads to fluid retention in the body.
Also, hypertension can develop due to disruption of the functions of the endocrine system, in the premenstrual period, after menopause, and during the intake of certain medications.
Often in women of reproductive age, hypertension develops with oral contraceptives (contraceptive pills contain estrogens, which in 5% of cases can trigger an increase in blood pressure).
From hypertension can suffer unnecessarily emotional women, who, against the background of frequent and violent experiences, there are disruptions in the work of the heart.
Causes of hypertension in adolescents
The causes of high blood pressure in adolescence are most often associated with persistent strong nervous strains and negative emotions. Such conditions can lead to a big load in school, extracurricular activities (with a tutor, music, etc.).
Another common cause of hypertension in adolescents may be the onset of puberty and the related changes in the hormonal background.
Also, hypertension can develop as a result of heredity, kidney disease, dysfunction of the endocrine system.
Causes of hypertension in pregnancy
The causes of high blood pressure in pregnant women are most often associated with a low susceptibility of tissues to insulin, which is caused by a change in the hormonal background (usually in the second half of pregnancy).
Also, the pressure may increase due to a lack of magnesium in the body, abuse of salty foods, improper functioning of the thyroid gland, impaired urinary function, excess weight.
Increased pressure during pregnancy is often associated with the development of gestosis (late toxicosis).
Often, the future mother even before pregnancy suffers from high blood pressure (chronic hypertension), but during pregnancy the disease worsens and the woman's condition worsens.
With gestational hypertension, the pregnancy often increases the pressure for a short time, while other disorders, such as puffiness, a high level of protein in the urine, is not observed. In some cases, this condition precedes the development of pre-eclampsia (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 chronic hypertension and preeclampsia, since such disorders are difficult to treat.
After pre-eclampsia, an even more serious complication may develop - eclampsia, in which the pregnant woman starts cramping all over her body, possibly losing consciousness. Eclampsia is very similar to epileptic seizures, which previously did not occur in a pregnant woman.
This condition is extremely dangerous for both women and the fetus. During seizures, a woman can be injured in the fall, possibly a hemorrhage in the brain. The fetus under such conditions experiences a strong oxygen starvation, intrauterine fetal death is not excluded.
[35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41]
Causes of tachycardia at elevated pressure
The causes of increased blood pressure are different, but regardless of them, the heart muscle in this pathology pumps rather large volumes of blood, which leads to overloads that cause some changes, for example, an increase in the left ventricle due to an increased cardiac output.
Tachycardia with increasing pressure is often manifested by a sharp increase in heart rate (from 130 beats per minute), untimely contractions of the heart muscle. Such states can last from a few minutes to several days.
[42], [43], [44], [45], [46], [47], [48]
Causes of dizziness at elevated pressure
The causes of hypertension may be different, but the main symptoms of the pathology are headaches, tingling in the heart, dizziness.
Dizziness when the pressure rises are caused by a violation of blood circulation, when the flow of blood to the brain decreases. With hypertension, spasm and narrowing of the lumen in the vessels are observed. With a constant increase in pressure, irreversible changes start in the walls of the vessels, sclerosis occurs and the lumen is narrowed even more, as a result, the brain does not receive enough nutrients and oxygen.
[49], [50], [51], [52], [53], [54]
Causes of permanent high blood pressure
The reasons for the increased pressure are different, some provoke a temporary increase in pressure, some leading to the fact that the pressure is increased constantly and treatment is required, in particular, taking antihypertensive drugs.
The main cause of constant high blood pressure are disorders in the work of the endocrine, urinary systems, obesity.
The causes of hypertension are diverse, but it should be remembered that hypertension, if it is not paid attention to and not started on time, can lead to severe consequences, in particular, increased pressure can lead to an exacerbation of prostatitis in men, heart disease and blood vessels.