What is Secondary Hypertension

Secondary hypertension is a type of high blood pressure that doesn’t occur very often, only in about 10% of all the cases. The rest of the cases of high blood pressure have an unknown cause and the condition is commonly named primary or essential hypertension. In the secondary type, you are looking for a known cause unlike with the primary type,  which is a mystery.

Causes

Scientists and investigators know for a fact that there are many conditions that can cause secondary hypertension. The consequence is a raised arterial pressure due to :

• an increment in the heart output -  When cardiac output is raised it is generally due to either increased neuro-humoral activation of the heart or increased blood volume.

• systematic vascular resistance

• or both.

Renal Artery Stenosis

This condition can cause narrowing of the vessel stenosis. The reduced lumen diameter increases the pressure drop along the length of the diseased artery, and this reduces the pressure at the afferent arteriole in the kidney.

Chronic Renal Disease

Many experts and medical researches agree that when this condition is present the kidneys don’t excrete the usual amount of sodium which lead to salt retention and as a result it can turn into secondary type of hypertension.

Primary Hyperaldosteronism

This condition causes an increment of the secretion of aldosterone and it makes the body retain a large amount of sodium and water and as a result, blood volume, and pressure both increase.

Stress

Believe it or not, stress can also make this appear by activating the sympathetic nervous system. So just take it easy and let the situations in life unfold especially if you cannot control them. Researchers of secondary hypertension praise the power of positive thinking.

Sleep Apnea

Many scientific studies show that if a person snores there is a great chance they posses this medical condition that leads to secondary high blood pressure. Generally people that are overweight develop this condition but other factors such as airway obstruction can cause this as well fortunately surgery can correct this problem.

Hypothyroidism 

This is a thyroid hormone that is released in the body that causes an increment in blood pressure.

Pheochromocytoma

The blood pressure can also increase because of the high amounts of catecholamine that are produced by certain tumors in the adrenal medulla area .

Preeclampsia

This condition generally occurs during the third trimester of pregnancy, the blood volume increases and it result in hypertension.

Aortic Coarctation

This is a congenital condition that obstructs aortic outflow leading to an increased blood pressure.

Treatment

Many studies of secondary type of this condition have demonstrated that patients have a better chance of treating their condition by controlling or eliminating the underlying disease or pathology, although it may still be necessary to take anti-hypertensive drugs.

A very strict study and investigation of secondary hypertension reveals both the underlying disorder that is causing the high blood pressure and the condition itself. Remember that by assuming a positive attitude toward every situation, it is like providing yourself medicine.