Health

What your nose can tell you about your health

Thanks to a quirk known as unconscious selective attention, your brain has learned to ignore your nose. A prominent feature that's positioned closely to the eyes, the schnoz could get in the way of our vision—but the nervous ...

Biomedical technology

3D body scanner with AI predicts metabolic syndrome risk

Mayo Clinic researchers are using artificial intelligence (AI) with an advanced 3D body-volume scanner—originally developed for the clothing industry—to help doctors predict metabolic syndrome risk and severity. The combination ...

Health

FDA moves to further reduce salt levels in food

Emboldened by success in its initial efforts to cut dietary salt intake by Americans, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced Phase II of the endeavor.

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Hypertension (HTN) or high blood pressure, sometimes arterial hypertension, is a chronic medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is elevated. This requires the heart to work harder than normal to circulate blood through the blood vessels. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and diastolic, which depend on whether the heart muscle is contracting (systole) or relaxed (diastole) between beats. Normal blood pressure is at or below 120/80 mmHg. High blood pressure is said to be present if it is persistently at or above 140/90 mmHg.

Hypertension is classified as either primary (essential) hypertension or secondary hypertension; about 90–95% of cases are categorized as "primary hypertension" which means high blood pressure with no obvious underlying medical cause. The remaining 5–10% of cases (secondary hypertension) are caused by other conditions that affect the kidneys, arteries, heart or endocrine system.

Hypertension is a major risk factor for stroke, myocardial infarction (heart attacks), heart failure, aneurysms of the arteries (e.g. aortic aneurysm), peripheral arterial disease and is a cause of chronic kidney disease. Even moderate elevation of arterial blood pressure is associated with a shortened life expectancy. Dietary and lifestyle changes can improve blood pressure control and decrease the risk of associated health complications, although drug treatment is often necessary in patients for whom lifestyle changes prove ineffective or insufficient.

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