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Hypertension, commonly referred to as "high blood pressure" or HTN, is a
medical condition in which the blood pressure is chronically elevated.
While it is formally called arterial hypertension, the word
"hypertension" without a qualifier usually refers to arterial
hypertension. Hypertension can be classified as either essential
(primary) or secondary. Essential hypertension indicates that no
specific medical cause can be found to explain a patient's condition.
Secondary hypertension indicates that the high blood pressure is a
result of (i.e. secondary to) another condition, such as kidney disease
or certain tumors (especially of the adrenal gland). Persistent
hypertension is one of the risk factors for strokes, heart attacks,
heart failure and arterial aneurysm, and is a leading cause of chronic
renal failure. Even moderate elevation of arterial blood pressure leads
to shortened life expectancy. At severely high pressures, mean arterial
pressures 50% or more above average, a person can expect to live no more
than a few years unless appropriately treated.
Hypertension is considered to be present when a person's systolic blood
pressure is consistently 140 mmHg or greater, and/or their diastolic
blood pressure is consistently 90 mmHg or greater.[3] Recently, as of
2003, the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention,
Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure[4] has
defined blood pressure 120/80 mmHg to 139/89 mmHg as "prehypertension."
Prehypertension is not a disease category; rather, it is a designation
chosen to identify individuals at high risk of developing hypertension.
The Mayo Clinic website specifies blood pressure is "normal if it's
below 120/80" but that "some data indicate that 115/75 mm Hg should be
the gold standard." In patients with diabetes mellitus or kidney disease
studies have shown that blood pressure over 130/80 mmHg should be
considered high and warrants further treatment. Even lower numbers are
considered diagnostic using home blood pressure monitoring devices.
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