Essential Hypertension - The Essential or Primary Hypertension Facts

By Jason Falson

With essential hypertension no cause is examined because essential hypertension has no underlying causes. This type of hypertension occurs basically out of nowhere and without being provoked, it just happens. Another name for essential hypertension is primary hypertension. This is because it is seen as its own primary cause.

How To Control It

Usually a patient's treatment for essential hypertension will include medication. This not to say such things as alcohol consumption and weight control are ignored, but since these things by definition are not causes for essential hypertension, usually it will take hypertension medication to control it. Still, essential hypertension can be controlled and so, it is not seen as a serious ailment so long as it is controlled without some unusual complication.

The Overall View

One school of thought is primary hypertension actually does have an underlying cause but the medical profession has yet to discover what it could be. The reason this hypothesis is viable is that some patients will respond to the same treatment that other patients may not benefit from at all. This leads to the conclusion patient-A may, indeed have a truly primary hypertension while patient-B still has an undiscovered underlying problem.

In the end, a medical professional will come up with a plan that will control the hypertension and allow the patient to lead a normal life. Sometimes however, finding the treatment will require a little trial and error.

As in all cases of hypertension, the proper medication must be taken everyday. Blood pressure medication is constructed in such a way it is only effective when taken daily and may not be useful at all if some daily dosages are skipped.

Not only should the patient avoid missing his/her daily dosage of blood pressure medication, but he/she must take it at the same time everyday. This is because hypertension medication is not as effective even if it is just missed on rare occasions. Also, it loses its effectiveness if it is not taken at consistent intervals. This means following the doctor's orders includes what part of the day the medication should be taken.

Monitor Your Medication's Effect

Often times any type of medication will need to be altered. This is part of the normal procedure followed for coming to the conclusion of what is the right treatment for any particular individual. So, whenever a patient is not feeling well in the early stages of a treatment for high blood pressure he/she should let the doctor know. The patient should do so because the dosage or the medication itself may need to be changed.

Young people, those in their twenties and teenagers are diagnosed more often diagnosed with essential hypertension than people who are over thirty. Because aging can often exacerbate the chances hypertension will inflict a person and essential hypertension has no true underlying cause, aging by definition, could do nothing to bring essential hypertension on.

Because hypertension had not been discovered too many generations ago, a very popular hypothesis at this point in time is that essential hypertension is genetic. Of course, it will have to be studied for a longer period of time before a conclusion as to whether or not it is inherited can be made. - 31820

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