Why is high blood pressure a risk factor for cardiovascular disease?

High blood pressure increases the heart’s workload, causing the heart muscle to thicken and become stiffer. This stiffening of the heart muscle is not normal and causes the heart to function abnormally. It also increases your risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney failure and congestive heart failure.

What blood pressure measurement is considered to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease?

The cardiovascular and expanded-cardiovascular mortality risks were lowest when systolic blood pressures were 120 to 129 mm Hg, and increased significantly when systolic blood pressures (SBPs) were ≥160 mm Hg or diastolic BPs were ≥90 mm Hg.

Are blood pressure targets needed to prevent cardiovascular disease?

Reducing blood pressure (BP) remains a key global priority, given that high BP is the leading modifiable risk factor for death1. For decades, hypertension was boxed into being a systolic/diastolic BP of ≥140/90 mmHg because clinicians need classifications to diagnose and treat high BP to prevent cardiovascular disease.

Is high blood pressure considered cardiovascular disease?

Hypertension is one cause of cardiovascular disease—a term that encompasses the heart and blood vessels. When your blood pressure is high, your heart has to work harder to pump blood out to your body.

Which is a risk factor for CAD?

Overweight, physical inactivity, unhealthy eating, and smoking tobacco are risk factors for CAD. A family history of heart disease also increases your risk for CAD, especially a family history of having heart disease at an early age (50 or younger).

What is cardiovascular risk factors?

What are the risk factors for cardiovascular disease? The most important behavioural risk factors of heart disease and stroke are unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use and harmful use of alcohol.

Can you be fit and still have high blood pressure?

One-third of the high school, college and professional athletes who were screened by the Stanford sports cardiology clinic register as having high blood pressure, Stanford researchers have found. These people are young and fit, with exercise habits that put the rest of us to shame.

How does blood pressure affect cardiovascular disease?

High blood pressure can damage your arteries by making them less elastic, which decreases the flow of blood and oxygen to your heart and leads to heart disease. In addition, decreased blood flow to the heart can cause: Chest pain, also called angina.