A majority of population is known to be suffering from hypertension. You will be surprised to know that Hypertension (or high blood pressure) kills around 50 million Americans per year. Hyper tension is the condition of having high blood pressure above 90 mm Hg between the heart beats (diastolic) or over 140 mm Hg at the beats (systolic).

Hypertension is the condition of having high blood pressure and affects about 50 million Americans, many of whom have not been diagnosed till yet. Here are some reasons behind its occurrence:

Obesity

It has been stated that the risk of hypertension is about five times higher in obese people as compared to those having normal body weight. A definitive link between obesity and hypertension has been found using animal and clinical studies, from these it has been realized that many mechanisms are potential causes of obesity induced hypertension.

Sodium Intake: Sodium intake or high levels of salt in the daily diet are a major reason for the occurrence of hypertension. Approximately one third of the essential hypertensive population is responsive to sodium intake. Also, the water movement between cells and the interstitium plays a minor role compared to this.

Chronic overuse of alcohol is a potentially reversible cause of hypertension. Five percent of hypertension is due to alcohol consumption and 30 to 60 percent of alcoholics have hypertension. Alcohol-induced hypertension is more likely to occur in women than men. An overactive thyroid can cause the heart to pump faster and harder with the result being an elevated blood pressure.

Well, I have outlined some of the basic causes of hypertension or high blood pressure. Exercising, eating food with a lower percentage of sodium or salt and exercising daily could be some of the ways to ward off this situation.