Almost one in four adults in China has high blood pressure. So many people think that hypertension is so common, there is nothing to be afraid of ~ but it is indeed the main risk factor for the onset of cardiovascular disease and death in China.
And genetic factors and age are the two “mountains” that induce hypertension.
1, genetic factors: hypertension has obvious family aggregation, if both parents suffer from hypertension, then the probability of the onset of children up to 46%, the specific mechanism may be related to the main gene dominant genetic and polygenic association genetic.
In the genetic phenotype of hypertension, the incidence of elevated blood pressure, the height of hypertension, and the occurrence of complications are all heritable.
Genes – genetic factors
2, age: human vascular condition usually deteriorates with age, the older the age, the more serious the degree of vascular aging, which leads to a gradual decline in the ability of blood vessels to regulate blood pressure in the lumen, and thus the body’s chances of developing hypertension will increase.
With the advent of the era of “involution”, hypertension is also gradually rolled to younger groups, and is no longer the exclusive disease of the middle-aged and elderly. The reason for this result is the poor lifestyles of young people today.
1.High sodium and low potassium diet
Studies have found that the blood pressure levels of people in different regions have a significant relationship with the average intake of sodium and potassium, generally the more sodium intake and the less potassium intake, the higher the blood pressure level and the higher the incidence of hypertension.
Salt – high sodium low potassium diet
The main way we consume sodium is through the salt we eat with our dry meals. Too much salt can cause sodium to accumulate in the body, and the body retains more water in order to maintain normal fluid levels, which is often referred to as water-sodium retention.
Water and sodium retention can directly lead to an increase in blood volume in the body, when the excess blood is crowded in the original blood vessel cavity, which is obviously not enough, so it can only open the blood vessel wall with a certain degree of elasticity, resulting in an increase in blood pressure.
Because potassium has the role of promoting the excretion of sodium, so the intake of sodium while taking less potassium, will further increase the incidence of hypertension.
2.Overweight/obesity
Overweight or obesity is also an important risk factor for elevated blood pressure. Hypertensive patients about 1/3 exist in varying degrees of obesity, of which the type of obesity is closely related to the occurrence of hypertension, such as abdominal obesity is more likely to occur in hypertension.
People who are overweight or obese
When the abdominal obese person’s fat occurs ectopic deposition, such as from the normal subcutaneous deposition to the large omentum around, around the pericardium and around the kidney deposition, it will affect the body’s normal metabolic mechanism, increasing the possibility of increased blood pressure.
3, excessive alcohol consumption
The amount of alcohol consumed is linearly correlated with the level of blood pressure, especially when excessive alcohol consumption leads to severe vasoconstriction and a sharp increase in the pressure of blood in the blood vessels.
Drinking alcohol
Those who drink more than 50g of ethanol per day have a significantly higher incidence of hypertension.
4, long-term mental tension
Emotional nervousness, our cerebral cortex is in a state of high excitability, when the body will release adrenaline, angiotensin and other substances, resulting in vascular spasm, blood pressure increased.
Compared with manual workers, the prevalence of hypertension is higher in mental workers, especially those who are engaged in occupations with high mental tension, the possibility of hypertension is greater.
5.Insufficient physical activity
The body’s blood vessels and nerves and other structures, parallel in the muscle, when the body movement, muscle contraction and diastole, the vascular and nerve stimulation, can help promote the circulation of blood pressure, reduce the resistance to blood flow, thus playing a role in relieving vascular pressure.
Therefore, the physical activity of the long-term lack of people are generally more likely to suffer from hypertension than sports sports enthusiasts.
6.Other
In addition to the above factors, oral contraceptives can also cause reversible mild hypertension, especially in women over 35 years of age who have been taking the pill for a long time and are more likely to have elevated blood pressure, but can generally recover 3-6 months after termination of the pill.
Medications
Although the two “mountains” of genetic factors and age that cause high blood pressure cannot be pushed over, healthy lifestyle habits will certainly help delay the onset of hypertension. If a person is destined to “inherit” high blood pressure in his or her family, it is better to stop these habits early and start a healthy life!
References
[1] Wang Shanshan. Practical internal disease diagnosis and treatment and nursing [M]. China Ocean University Press,2019:116-117.
[2]China Hypertension Prevention and Control Guidelines Revision Committee,Hypertension Alliance (China),Chinese Medical Association Cardiovascular Disease Branch,et al. Chinese guidelines for the prevention and treatment of hypertension (2018 revised edition) [J]. Chinese Journal of Cardiovascular,2019,24(1):24-56.