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In recent years alterations to the diet and lifestyle in most western societies have produced a growth in the number of people suffering from high blood pressure.

High blood pressure (otherwise known as hypertension, or more properly arterial hypertension) is a serious condition that rarely has any symptoms and that, if left undetected and untreated, can cause stroke, heart attack, heart failure, arterial aneurysm or renal failure - any one of which represents a serious life-threatening condition.

So exactly what is high blood pressure and just what causes it?

The arteries of the body are constantly filled with blood which produces a normal 'background' pressure against the artery walls. When the heart pumps newly oxygenated blood around the body it pushes this blood into the arteries which briefly raises the pressure exerted on the walls of the arteries with each beat of the heart. These two pressures are known as the systolic pressure (the higher pressure as the heart pumps) and the diastolic pressure (the lower 'background' pressure).

Normal levels of blood pressure vary from individual to individual but, in general, systolic pressure ought to be around 120 mm Hg and diastolic pressure should be around 80 mm Hg. This is normally written as a blood pressure of 120/80.

When your blood pressure begins to rise and then remains at a level above 120/80 then you are described as being 'prehypertensive' and, while this is not in itself serious, it is an indication that you might be at risk of developing hypertension and the problems which are associated with it. Once your blood pressure rises to, and remains at, a level of 140/90 or higher then you are suffering from hypertension and action needs to be taken to lower your blood pressure.

So what makes you blood pressure rise and remain elevated?

Well, there are numerous factors involved here and to start there is a group over which you have little, or no, control. This group includes low weight at birth, various genetic factors, certain forms of diabetes (particularly type 2 diabetes) and your age (as we grow older the arteries display a tendency to become fibrous and lose their elasticity, resulting in a smaller cross-sectional area for the blood to flow through).

The next group of factors is far more controllable and includes leading a sedentary lifestyle, high levels of salt and saturated fats in your diet, excess weight, smoking tobacco, excessive alcohol consumption, stress and employment in certain occupations such as motorway maintenance or flying.

Most of these factors are of course treatable and, in many cases, a simple adjustment to your eating habits and the addition of a little exercise into your daily diary is all that is necessary to cure the problem. The difficulty however is that, with few, if any, symptoms, the majority of individuals are not aware that they are suffering from hypertension in the first place.

So how can you cure the problem?

Fortunately the answer to this particular question is fairly simple. All you need to do is to pop into your doctor's office regularly (for most of us a couple of times a year should be sufficient) and ask him or her to check your blood pressure for you. The whole process is painless, easy and fast and will give you peace of mind and may save your doctor a lot of time, work and expense down the road when you are forced to call in at his office once high blood pressure rears its ugly head.

If you are not all that keen on calling in to see your doctor then a very good alternative nowadays is to check your own blood pressure at home. A wide range of easy to operate and quite inexpensive blood pressure monitors are now available, allowing you to maintain a check on your own health, as well as that of your whole family, in the comfort and privacy of your own home.