Learn About Hypertension
Hypertension is abnormally high blood pressure in the arteries, which are the blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to the rest of the body. As the heart beats, it forces blood through the arteries to deliver nutrients and oxygen to the rest of the body. The strength of the blood pushing against the artery walls is blood pressure, which is measured in units called millimeters of mercury (mmHg). The top number in a blood pressure reading is the pressure when the heart pumps (systolic blood pressure), and the bottom number is the pressure between heart beats (diastolic blood pressure). In adults, a normal blood pressure measurement is about 120/80 mmHg. Blood pressure is considered high when the measurement is 130/80 mmHg or greater.
Hypertension can have a variety of causes. Secondary hypertension results from other disorders that raise blood pressure in addition to other problems. Rare, genetic forms of hypertension are caused by mutations in particular genes, many of which help control the balance of fluids and salts in the body and affect blood pressure. The causes of essential hypertension, however, are not well understood. Essential hypertension is a complex condition with a variety of factors, both genetic and environmental, contributing to its development.
Hypertension affects an estimated 47 percent of adults in the United States. Prevalence of the condition increases with age, and approximately 70 percent of people over age 65 are affected. In African Americans, the condition is more common, starts at a younger age, and is more severe than in other populations.
Hypertension tends to run in families. Individuals whose parents have hypertension have an elevated risk of developing the condition, particularly if both parents are affected. However, the inheritance pattern is unknown.
Healthcare Associates
Stephen Juraschek is a primary care provider, practicing in Internal Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Juraschek is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Hypertension. His top areas of expertise are Orthostatic Hypotension, Low Blood Pressure, Hypertension, and Familial Dysautonomia.
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Franz Messerli is a Cardiologist in New York,, New York. Dr. Messerli is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Hypertension. His top areas of expertise are Hypertension, Low Blood Pressure, Coronary Heart Disease, Heart Bypass Surgery, and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI).
Brigham And Women's Hospital, Heart And Vascular Center
Dr. Jane A. Leopold is the director of the Women's Interventional Cardiology Health Initiative at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). An interventional cardiovascular medicine specialist, she is also an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS).She received her medical degree at Boston University School of Medicine. She completed a residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and two fellowships at Boston Medical Center—cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology. Dr. Leopold is board certified in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology.Dr. Leopold developed the Women’s Interventional Cardiology Health Initiative at BWH, which uses advanced invasive diagnostic imaging and functional assessment devices to diagnose chest pain syndromes in women. The author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Leopold’s research interests include preclinical and clinical studies in pulmonary arterial hypertension and she is the principal investigator of a National Institutes of Health funded center at BWH to perform deep phenotyping in patients with Groups 1-5 pulmonary hypertension. She also studies mechanisms by which aldosterone influences vascular structure and function and cardiovascular disease in women. Her research has received support from the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association. Dr. Leopold is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Hypertension. Her top areas of expertise are Pulmonary Hypertension, Hypertension, Heart Attack, Angioplasty, and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI).
Summary: Researchers are looking for new ways to treat people with a type of pulmonary hypertension called combined postcapillary and precapillary pulmonary hypertension (Cpc-PH). This study focuses on Cpc-PH that is caused by heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Researchers want to know if the study treatment, sotatercept, can treat people with Cpc-PH caused by HFpEF. This is an extensi...
Summary: The investigators will study whether the drug tadalafil improves shortness of breath in 126 Veterans with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and high blood pressure in the lungs. The investigators will also assess whether tadalafil improves quality of life, home daily physical activity, exercise endurance, the frequency of acute flares of COPD, blood pressure in the lungs, and lung funct...
Published Date: January 01, 2019
Published By: National Institutes of Health