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In recent years alterations to the lifestyle and diet in the majority of western societies have produced an increase in the number of people with high blood pressure.

High blood pressure (which is otherwise called hypertension, or more correctly arterial hypertension) is a serious condition which rarely carries any symptoms and which, if left undetected and untreated, can result in stroke, heart attack, heart failure, arterial aneurysm or renal failure - any one of which is a serious life-threatening condition.

So exactly what is high blood pressure and precisely what causes it?

The arteries of the body are constantly filled with blood which produces a normal 'background' pressure on the artery walls. As the heart pumps newly oxygenated blood around the body it pushes this blood into the arteries which momentarily raises the pressure on the walls of the arteries with every heartbeat. These two pressures are referred to as the systolic pressure (the higher pumping pressure of the heart) and the diastolic pressure (the reduced 'background' pressure).

Normal blood pressure differs from person to person but, generally, systolic pressure ought to be about 120 mm Hg and diastolic pressure should be about 80 mm Hg. This is usually written as a blood pressure of 120/80.

Whenever your blood pressure begins to rise and stays above 120/80 then you are described as being 'prehypertensive' and, while this is not serious in itself, it is a sign that you might be at risk of developing hypertension and the problems which are associated with it. If your blood pressure reaches, and maintains, a level of 140/90 or higher you are suffering from hypertension and steps ought to be taken to reduce your blood pressure.

So what makes you blood pressure rise and remain elevated?

Well, there are several factors at play here and to begin there is a group over which you have little, or no, control. This group of factors includes low birth weight, various genetic factors, certain types of diabetes (particularly type 2 diabetes) and your age (with increasing age the arteries display a tendency to become fibrous and lose their elasticity, creating a reduced cross-sectional area for the blood to flow through).

The second group of factors is far more within your control and includes a sedentary lifestyle, large levels of salt and saturated fats in the diet, being overweight, smoking, alcohol abuse, stress and employment in certain occupations like flying or motorway maintenance.

The vast majority of these factors are of course treatable and, in many cases, a quite simple change in your eating habits and the addition of a little exercise into your daily plan is all that is necessary to cure the problem. However, the difficulty is that, without any real symptoms, the vast majority of individuals are not aware that they have hypertension to start with.

So how can you go about curing the problem?

Fortunately the answer to this particular question is very simple. All you have to do is to call in at your physician's office regularly (a couple of times a year will do the trick) and ask him or her to check your blood pressure. The whole process is painless, simple and fast and will give you peace of mind and might save your doctor a lot of time, work and expense later on when you are forced to present yourself at his office once hypertension has set in.

If you are not all that keen on calling in to see your doctor then an excellent alternative nowadays is to monitor your own blood pressure. A wide range of simple to operate and relatively inexpensive blood pressure monitors are available today, allowing you to check your own health, as well as the health of of your entire family, in the privacy and comfort of your own home.