Types of high blood pressure

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Primary hypertensionMore than 9 in 10 people with high blood pressure have what's called 'primary'or 'essential hypertension'.This means that there's no single clear cause of it. Although the exact cause of high blood pressure isn't fully understood, it's known hat some factors to do with your lifestyle can contribute. These include: *smoking *your family history *obesity (being very overweight) *drinking a lot of alcohol - especially if you binge drink *a lack of exercise *your diet Secondary hypertensionAround 5 in 10 people with high blood pressure have 'secondary hypertension'. This means your condition can be linked to a recognised cause - in fact, it may be a symptom of another underlying disease or factor such as: *kidney disease *endocrine disease *narrowing of the aorta *steroid medicines *the contraceptive pill *pregnancy, which can cause pre-eclampsia