Risk Factors of Hypertension, Part 1

The typical image of a person with hypertension (high blood pressure) is an overweight, overworked male executive with a very short fuse. The truth is, high blood pressure affects people of all ages, races, social classes, sizes and shapes, women as well as mean and even children. Although great strides have been made in recent years to control this condition, often it still goes untreated or uncontrolled.

Risk factors you can't change

Certain unalterable conditions put you at greater risk for developing hypertension. If you fall into one of the following categories, you can avoid compounding your risk by making lifestyle changes.

• Heredity
  Those with a family history of hypertension are twice as likely to develop it as others. Many children of hypertensive parents have slightly elevated blood pressure even as infants.
• Race
  Hypertension is more common and generally more severe among blacks than among whites. For reasons not completely understood, blacks - especially males - tend to develop high blood pressure earlier in life, and much more often with fatal results.
• Pregnancy
  Hypertension is not related to a person's sex. However, during pregnancy, some women - even those who have never had high blood pressure - develop it.

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