Saturday, December 15, 2007

What Is Hypertension?

Hypertension is another word for high blood pressure. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, hypertension is ?abnormally high blood pressure and especially arterial blood pressure.?
High blood pressure occurs when the arteriole arteries narrow, making it difficult for blood to pass through them. This forces the heart to pump harder to get the blood through. As the pressure increases above normal and is sustained, the result is high blood pressure.
High blood pressure is a common problem. It is the most common chronic illness in the United States. Almost twenty five percent of Americans have it, and a significant number of them do not realize they have it. That is because high blood pressure causes few, if any symptoms, until it has reached an advanced s View the rest of this article


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