Hypertension Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Hypertension
Synonyms	Arterial hypertension, high blood pressure

Automated arm blood pressure meter showing arterial hypertension (shown a systolic blood pressure 158 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure 99 mmHg and heart rate of 80 beats per minute)
Symptoms	None
Complications	Coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure, peripheral arterial disease, vision loss, chronic kidney disease, dementia
Causes	Usually lifestyle and genetic factors
Risk factors	Excess salt, excess body weight, smoking, alcohol
Diagnostic method	Resting blood pressure 130/80 or 140/90 mmHg
Treatment	Lifestyle changes, medications
Frequency	16–37% globally
Deaths	9.4 million / 18% (2010)

Hypertension is also known as high blood pressure. It's a health condition where the blood pressure in your arteries (the tubes that carry blood from your heart) is too high. This makes your heart work extra hard to pump blood around your body.

What is Blood Pressure?
Types of High Blood Pressure
Why is High Blood Pressure a Problem?
How to Treat High Blood Pressure
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What is Blood Pressure?

Your blood moves through your arteries with a certain amount of pressure. This pressure changes as your heart works.

When your heart squeezes to pump blood out, the pressure goes up. This is called the systolic blood pressure.
When your heart relaxes between beats, the pressure goes down. This is called the diastolic blood pressure.

Blood pressure is usually written as two numbers, like 120/80. The first number is the systolic pressure, and the second is the diastolic pressure. For example, 120/80 is read as "120 over 80."

Types of High Blood Pressure

There are two main types of hypertension:

Primary hypertension: This is the most common type, making up about 90-95% of cases. It means that the high blood pressure doesn't have a clear cause from another illness. It often develops slowly over many years.
Secondary hypertension: This type is less common (about 5-10% of cases). It means the high blood pressure is caused by another health problem or medication. For example, kidney disease can sometimes lead to secondary hypertension.

Why is High Blood Pressure a Problem?

If blood pressure stays too high for a long time, it can damage your body. It can lead to serious health issues like:

Heart attack
Stroke
Heart failure (when the heart can't pump blood well)
Kidney failure

To stay healthy, doctors usually recommend keeping blood pressure below 140/90 mmHg for most people.

How to Treat High Blood Pressure

Lifestyle Changes

Often, people can lower their blood pressure by making healthy changes to their daily lives. Doctors might suggest:

Losing weight if you are overweight or obese.
Doing physical activity regularly.
Eating less salt.
Limiting how much alcohol you drink.
Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Medicine for High Blood Pressure

If lifestyle changes aren't enough, a doctor might prescribe medications. These medicines help lower blood pressure in different ways. Some common types include:

Diuretics: These medicines help your body get rid of extra water and salt, which can lower blood pressure.
Beta blockers: These slow down your heart rate, making your heart pump with less force.
ACE inhibitors: These medicines help to relax your arteries, making it easier for blood to flow through.

How Effective is Treatment?

Even a small drop in blood pressure can make a big difference for your health. For example, if someone's blood pressure goes down by just 5 mmHg (like from 150/100 to 145/95), it can greatly lower their risk of a stroke or heart disease.

Images for kids

Determinants of mean arterial pressure
Rates of hypertension in adult men in 2014.
Image of veins from Harvey's Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus
Graph showing, prevalence of awareness, treatment and control of hypertension compared between the four studies of NHANES