Hypertension: The Silent Killer

High blood pressure, also known as HBP or hypertension, consequences are not a very well known to the average person. Some people think that those with hypertension are tense, nervous or hyperactive, but hypertension has nothing to do with personality traits. The truth is, you can be a calm, relaxed person and still have HBP.? High blood pressure tends to run in families and is more likely to affect men than women. Age and race also play a role. People who have high blood pressure are 4 to 6 times more likely to have a stroke. Over time, hypertension leads to atherosclerosis and hardening of the large arteries. This, in turn, leads to blockage and weakening of the walls of small blood vessels in the brain, causing them to balloon and burst. The risk of stroke is directly related to how high the blood pressure is. Forty to 90 percent of stroke patients have high blood pressure before their stroke event.