The most common hypertension pathophysiology is not known, because the pathophysiology of hypertension is still not fully understood. Hypertension or high blood pressure is a very common medical issue which occurs all over the world, and it is associated with a number of different causes and changes in the body. Sometimes the cause is evident, while in other cases, it may not be clear, or a constellation of medical issues may be contributing to the development of hypertension, which can make it hard to figure out the sequence of events which led to high blood pressure.
Primary or essential hypertension is high blood pressure which occurs without an obvious cause, with over 90% of cases of chronic hypertension falling into this category. Secondary hypertension occurs as a complication of disease, usually renal or adrenal disease. In the case of secondary hypertension, hypertension pathophysiology is very well understood because a series of documentable changes occur in the body and contribute to the development of high blood pressure.
Primary hypertension is trickier. There are some risk factors associated with high blood pressure, including stress, smoking, drinking, poor fitness levels, high salt intake, low potassium intake, age, and family history. The way in which these risk factors act on the body is complex, and hypertension physiology can include a variety of changes to the cardiovascular system.
Cardiac output plays a major role in blood pressure and hypertension pathophysiology; when the heart is not pumping as much blood, blood pressure tends to decline. Likewise, peripheral resistance created in the blood vessels also plays a role in blood pressure. One way to think about this is to imagine water spurting down a hose; if one turns the faucet up, adding more water, the pressure in the hose increases. If the hose has a hole or part of it has weakened, causing the hose to widen, pressure decreases.
Hypertension pathophysiology can involve congenital conditions which affect the cardiovascular system, such as heart abnormalities which reduce the cardiac output, or abnormalities in the parts of the nervous system which play a role in regulating blood pressure. High blood pressure can also be caused by a disease process which impairs some aspect of the body involved in blood pressure regulation, but in some cases, hypertension pathophysiology cannot be identified in a specific patient, with the focus of treatment being on lowering blood pressure, rather than trying to determine and address the cause of high blood pressure.
