What things cause high blood pressure?

[Tokis-Phoenix]

So anyway, this is just something that has been bugging me for a little while. My most recent blood pressure test shows that i have absolutely perfect blood pressure for my age, however my fiance's blood pressure is really high and over the roof (apparently he has the blood pressure of someone in their 60's, and he's only 23 years old).
We both smoke (me, i try to keep it to 7 or less rollys a day, he has about 10 a day), he's a vegetarian (will eat dairy products and eggs though), i'm not a vegetarian however in general i don't eat meat that often. I do excercise a couple of times a week on my bike and try to eat a diet filled with fruit and veg and low on ready-made/processed foods.


Apparently his blood pressure problems are down to his smoking, but i just find this really hard to believe since i don't smoke that much less than him but on the other hand my blood pressure is completely normal/good.
So there's a large part of me thats sure that other stuff has gotta be contributing to his blood pressure problems, like diet or stress levels or something like that...

I really want him to go down and work out at the gym, since his body is not what it used to be when we first met almost 5 years ago, and i'm missing that a great deal in our relationship. His doctor says he can't go down to the gym though until he does something about his blood pressure, as otherwise doing hard excercise could cause him to have a stroke with his blood pressure as high as it currently is.


So what things can contribute to high blood pressure and what things can someone do to lower it?

Thanks for your time and any help/info/advice is much appreiciated !

 

[StripeGirl]

Does he have a stressful job?stopping smoking will help for sure.

 

[davo]

Don't want to jump the gun, but you might want to check if hes pregnant
But seriously, there are probably a lot of things that relate to high blood pressure, and everyone is different also. Just have to try and eliminate as much of the stuff that causes it, and as smoking is a lifestyle choice... as for you, it might affect people differently, and you may have had a lower bp than him to begin. Theres a lot of stuff on the net, have a read through http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_blood_pressure if you haven't already, and see where to go from there.

 

[KenyanSandBoa]

I found this on the American Heart Association website:

What Causes High Blood Pressure?
In 90 to 95 percent of high blood pressure cases, the cause is unknown. In fact, you can have high blood pressure for years without knowing it. That's why it's the “silent killer” — it creeps up on you. When the cause is unknown, you have what's called essential or primary hypertension. Factors that may lead to high blood pressure in the remaining 5–10 percent of cases, which are known as secondary hypertension, include:

• Kidney abnormality
• A structural abnormality of the aorta (large blood vessel leaving the heart) existing since birth
• Narrowing of certain arteries

These problems can usually be corrected. For example, doctors can repair a narrowed artery that supplies blood to a kidney. Most of these problems can be ruled out by a careful history, a physical examination and a few tests. Special tests are sometimes needed, but you don't usually have to stay in the hospital.
How does high blood pressure develop?

http://www.medmovie.com/mmdatabase/MedMovieRedirect.aspx?ClientID=28&MedID=ahaw_0017ihttp://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2152#

Your heart pumps blood through the body's arteries. The large arteries that leave your heart taper into smaller arteries called arterioles. The arterioles then taper into smaller vessels called capillaries, which supply oxygen and nutrients to all the organs of your body. The blood then returns to your heart through the veins.
Certain nerve impulses cause your arteries to dilate (become larger) or contract (become smaller). If these vessels are wide open, blood can flow through easily. If they're narrow, it's harder for the blood to flow through them, and the pressure inside them increases. Then high blood pressure may occur. When this happens, your heart becomes strained and blood vessels may become damaged. Changes in the vessels that supply blood to your kidneys and brain may cause these organs to be affected.
Your heart, brain and kidneys can handle increased pressure for a long time. That's why you can live for years without any symptoms or ill effects. But that doesn't mean it's not hurting you. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for stroke, heart attack, heart failure and kidney failure.

http://www.medmovie.com/mmdatabase/MedMovieRedirect.aspx?ClientID=28&MedID=ahaw_0202ihttp://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2152#

What does high blood pressure do to your body?
High blood pressure adds to the workload of your heart and arteries. Your heart must pump harder, and the arteries carry blood that's moving under greater pressure. If high blood pressure continues for a long time, your heart and arteries may not work as well as they should. Other body organs may also be affected. There is increased risk of stroke, congestive heart failure, kidney failure and heart attack. When high blood pressure exists with obesity, smoking, high blood cholesterol or diabetes, the risk of heart attack or stroke increases several times.
What about low blood pressure?
Within certain limits, the lower your blood pressure reading is, the better. In most people, blood pressure isn't too low until it produces symptoms, such as lightheadedness or fainting. In certain disease states, it's possible for blood pressure to be too low. Examples include:

• Certain nerve or endocrine disorders
• Prolonged bed rest
• Decreases in blood volume due to severe bleeding (hemorrhage) or dehydration

Blood pressure less than 120/80 mm Hg is generally considered ideal. Levels higher than this increase your risk for cardiovascular disease. If you have unusually low blood pressure, have it evaluated.

 

[rallysman]

Tell him to quit smoking, and find out if there may be stress related issues.

Smoking isn't that hard to quit really, but end the end you die anyway. I guess it's all up to how he wants to go out.

Just out of curiosity, how high are we talking here? I was 150/100 when I was smoking, when I quit (on a relaxed day) I'm back down to 120/85ish

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Does he have a stressful job?stopping smoking will help for sure.

He did have a rather stressful job until quite recently, but he's changed jobs and he's now working at a different place and has been working at his new job for about 1month now, he seems a great deal happier with his new job but it doesn't seem to affected his blood pressure levels a great deal yet.


The smoking thing is a difficult thing. I smoke because i like doing it (and its not like i do it excessively either, i smoke far less than the average smoker, and choose low tar and presertive etc rolling baccy etc), and although i will probably stop doing it in a couple of years time, i enjoy it for what it is for now while it lasts, i get a great deal of satisfaction and enjoyment out of my smokes.
My fiance though seems to smoke mostly out of habit, he wants to quit but he says he will only give up smoking if i give it up. I don't want to give it up because i simply don't want to in my life right now, and also largely because i don't want to be forced or emotionally blackmailed or whatever into quitting it.

This is becomming a really bad problem now though because his blood pressure has now become a part of the problem...I don't want to be forced to quit by anyone...He doesn't believe me that i'll will give it up in a few years time. On the other hand though, i don't want him to get a stroke from going to the gym because of his high blood pressure.
The problem is, is that i have a strong feeling that he knows he can give the smokes if he really wants to, i'm not stopping him in anyway, but the reason why he says he won't quit is because he doesn't want me to smoke.
Its one the issues in our relationship right now....

Don't want to jump the gun, but you might want to check if hes pregnant
But seriously, there are probably a lot of things that relate to high blood pressure, and everyone is different also. Just have to try and eliminate as much of the stuff that causes it, and as smoking is a lifestyle choice... as for you, it might affect people differently, and you may have had a lower bp than him to begin. Theres a lot of stuff on the net, have a read through http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_blood_pressure if you haven't already, and see where to go from there.

Thanks for the link i am busy reading through it right now .

Tell him to quit smoking, and find out if there may be stress related issues.

Smoking isn't that hard to quit really, but end the end you die anyway. I guess it's all up to how he wants to go out.

Just out of curiosity, how high are we talking here? I was 150/100 when I was smoking, when I quit (on a relaxed day) I'm back down to 120/85ish

I'm not sure on the exact numbers but i think its 160/something. All i know is that apparently its very bad for his age.


edit: Hmm, he does get very stressed very easily and quickly sometimes, he has a problem with storing up all his emotions and problems inside himself and only letting them out when he can't deal with it anymore. I'm trying to get him to speak to me more often about stuff like that, although i know it is difficult for him as he's never really relied on anyone in life and has spent much of his life only depending on himself etc.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I found this on the American Heart Association website:

What Causes High Blood Pressure?
In 90 to 95 percent of high blood pressure cases, the cause is unknown. In fact, you can have high blood pressure for years without knowing it.

Hm, i never knew that fact, i wonder whether that fact is because people do not get the causes of their high blood pressure diagnosed properly or whether its because there are many causes of high blood pressure not fully understood or researched etc?

 

[KenyanSandBoa]

Hm, i never knew that fact, i wonder whether that fact is because people do not get the causes of their high blood pressure diagnosed properly or whether its because there are many causes of high blood pressure not fully understood or researched etc?

It could be a combination of the two...along with the fact that it's "silent", so you don't really recognize a change in lifestyle if there is no immediate negative effect.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Woah while reading the link Davo gave to me, i found something really interesting. It said that Sleep apnea is a common, under-recognized cause of hypertension/high blood pressure, now this is weird, because when i was looking through the common symptoms of Sleep apnea, my fiance matches all of these symptoms of it below;

Additional signs of obstructive sleep apnea include restless sleep, and loud snoring (with periods of silence followed by gasps). Other symptoms are non-specific: morning headaches, trouble concentrating, irritibility, forgetfulness, mood or behavior changes, increased heart rate, amxiety, depression, nocturia (getting up during the night to urinate) and heavy sweating at night.


I wonder if he has something like sleep apnea which could be concentrating to his high blood pressure? Certainly, he's had these symptoms long before he even started smoking years ago.

... ... ...

"continues reading articles"....

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

In the Wikipedia article on high blood pressure, in the Lifestyle Modification part it says;

"Discontinuing smoking does not directly reduce blood pressure, but is very important for people with hypertension because it reduces the risk of many dangerous outcomes of hypertension, such as stroke and heart attack."


Is this true? So how much does smoking actually contribute to high blood pressure if giving it up won't directly reduce blood pressure? I'm a bit confuzed now.