What Is The Link Between High Blood Pressure And Anxiety? By Paul J Johnson At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

There are many different factors, which can contribute to a person being at risk of developing high blood pressure, and we will explore some of them in this article. But is there a connection between high blood pressure and anxiety?

There are considered to be two types of hypertension, these are “essential” or “secondary”. Essential hypertension is said to occur when there is no recognizable medical cause for the problem, whereas secondary hypertension is a result of another illness or condition.

Often a diagnosis of hypertension will initially look for any medical conditions that may be causing the problem; if none can be found then it is usually considered as essential hypertension and treated accordingly. Over 90% of those that are diagnosed with high blood pressure are considered to have essential hypertension.

According to the authors of the author of a recent High Blood Pressure and Health Policy, high blood pressure has grown to almost epidemic proportions, They blame this on our westernized lifestyles of high fat diets, lack of exercise and long and stressful working hours.

High blood pressure is known as the ‘silent killer’ as there are often no symptoms shown, which makes it hard for a person to spot.

However there have been studies carried in recent years, which have begun to show that people suffering from anxiety are likely to suffer from high blood pressure. These studies have shown that this is particularly likely to happen in women more than in men.

Although it is not thought that anxiety actually causes a person to suffer constantly with high blood pressure, it seems to cause temporary spikes in those who do suffer with high blood pressure. If these spikes happen frequently then they can actually start to cause damage to a person's blood vessels as well as their heart and kidneys in much the same way as a person who is suffering with high blood pressure persistently.

It is not clear why depression and anxiety may elevate blood pressure, but it may be linked to how the nervous system behaves in those with anxiety and depression.

Other studies have shown that people with anxiety have shown more exaggerated responses in the nervous system when facing day to day activity, and the nervous system controls many of the functions in the body that we are not consciously aware of.

There is some compelling evidence that there is a connection between hypertension and anxiety, and most doctors will look for their patients to make lifestyle changes along with taking medication and changing their diet to alleviate high blood pressure.

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The link between high blood pressure and anxiety or stress can often be witnessed in small part when someone has their blood pressure taken in a clinic. They can often fall foul of “lab coat” or “white coat” hypertension, which is basically a stress response to having the blood pressure taken in a clinical environment.

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