What Increases Your Risk

Things that increase your risk (risk factors) for high blood pressure include:

• A family history of high blood pressure.
• Aging.
• Eating a lot of sodium (salt).
• Drinking more than 2 alcoholic drinks a day for men or more than 1 alcoholic drink a day for women.
• Being overweight or obese.
• Lack of exercise or physical activity.
• Race. African Americans are more likely to get high blood pressure, often have more severe high blood pressure, and are more likely to get the condition at an earlier age than others. Why they are at greater risk is not known.

Other possible risk factors include:

• Low intake of potassium, magnesium, and calcium.
• Sleep apnea and sleep-disordered breathing.
• Long-term use of pain medicines like NSAIDs—for example, naproxen (such as Aleve) or ibuprofen (such as Motrin or Advil)—or COX-2 inhibitors, such as celecoxib (Celebrex). Aspirin does not increase your risk for getting high blood pressure.

When to Call a Doctor

Call a doctor immediately if you have high blood pressure and:

• Your blood pressure is much higher than normal (such as180/110 or higher).
• You think high blood pressure is causing symptoms such as:
  • Severe headache, especially pulsating headaches behind the eyes.
  • Blurry vision.
  • Nausea or vomiting.

These are symptoms of malignant high blood pressure or hypertensive crisis.

Call a doctor if:

• Your blood pressure is 140/90 or higher on two or more occasions.
• You think you may be having side effects from your blood pressure medicine.
• Your blood pressure is usually normal and well controlled, but it goes above the normal range on more than one occasion.

Adults are encouraged to have their blood pressure checked regularly.

Who to see

Your blood pressure can be checked:

• At a clinic where you work or go to school.
• At health fairs, fitness centers, community centers, fire stations, and ambulance stations.
• By a nurse practitioner or physician assistant.
• By a primary care doctor.

For diagnosis and management of high blood pressure, see:

• A primary care doctor.
• An internist.
• A cardiologist (heart specialist). In general, a cardiologist is needed only in cases of extremely high blood pressure or when the person has other serious heart problems.
• A nephrologist (kidney specialist), in extreme cases.
• A nurse practitioner.
• A physician assistant.