In most cases, changes in blood pressure, particularly prolonged increases in blood pressure are caused by different factors that can range from diet and physical activity to underlying health conditions or pre-existing medical conditions.
Understanding the factors that affect blood pressure can help you prevent your risks of high blood pressure or notice instances where your blood pressure might be high, especially if you’ve been diagnosed with hypertension before.
In this post, we will address the following:
- What are the short-term and long-term factors that affect blood pressure?
- Dangers of high blood pressure
What Are the Short-Term and Long-Term Factors That Affect Blood Pressure?
I will split the factors that contribute to increases and decreases in blood pressure into three categories; long-term and short-term factors plus those that can fall into both categories.
Short-Term Factors
High level of stress and/or anxiety
Being exposed to high levels of stress can temporarily increase your blood pressure. For instance, your blood pressure is likely to be slightly higher than its normal readings after you have been exposed to something that you fear.
Individuals who get anxious during hospital visits are also likely to notice a spike in their blood pressure when their blood pressure is assessed in a hospital setting.
Volume of circulating blood
The volume of blood circulating in your body can be influenced by factors such as excessive bleeding, the amount of water and sodium consumed and excreted, and underlying medical conditions.
A person’s blood volume can reduce significantly after an accident or incident that might result in excessive bleeding. In such cases, the blood pressure will also decrease due to the reduced volume of blood. Severe loss of blood can lead to a condition referred to as hypovolemic shock which is characterized by the heart’s inability to pump enough blood to the rest of the body.
On the other hand, an increase in blood volume can lead to high blood pressure. For instance, drinking a lot of alcohol interferes with the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system which regulates blood volume and the narrowing of blood vessels.
The disruption of this system affects the excretion of urine and promotes the retention of fluids in the body. The high fluid volume equates to high blood volume along with the narrowed blood vessels promote high blood pressure.
Physical exercise
Physical exercise can cause a spike in your blood pressure. For instance, if you have been running or engaging in other cardio exercises, you will notice a spike in your blood pressure during and immediately after the exercise.
After a 15 to 20-minute rest, the rate of your blood pressure will have normalized. I assessed my blood pressure before, immediately after, and 20 minutes after a 30-minute cardio workout and got the results below.
Blood pressure assessment
The results above illustrate the changes in our blood pressure over time and based on the activities that we engage in. While exercise will temporarily raise your blood pressure, engaging yourself in physical exercises will reduce your risks of hypertension.
Drug use and certain medications
Some medications can cause a rise in your blood pressure or interact with the effectiveness of your blood pressure medication i.e. if you have a history of hypertension.
If you are considering an over-the-counter drug, ensure that you ask your pharmacist or doctor about the risks of drug-drug interactions.
Some of the drugs that are commonly abused, such as cocaine, have also been associated with rapid blood pressure increases. Using these drugs can affect a person’s overall health and increase their risks of heart attacks or other forms of heart rhythm disturbances.
Caffeine
Caffeine can also cause a temporary spike in your blood pressure. This is why you are advised to avoid checking your blood pressure within 30 to 45 minutes after you have had coffee or other caffeinated drinks.
If you have been diagnosed with hypertension, you might want to reduce your intake of coffee/caffeinated drinks.
Smoking
The nicotine in cigarettes increases the pulse rate and the blood pressure of an individual. Prolonged exposure to nicotine increases the risk of developing high blood pressure.
Note: The increase in blood pressure in the situations described above does not necessarily mean that you have hypertension.
Long Term Factors
Lack of physical exercise
While engaging in physical exercise can temporarily raise your blood pressure, lack of physical exercise can also increase your risk of high blood pressure because of its association with risks of conditions like being overweight and obese, which are underlying factors for hypertension.
Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
Since the kidneys are responsible for excretion, conditions affecting the kidneys can result in excessive retention of fluids in the body, which would also translate to high blood volume levels.
The link between blood pressure and chronic kidney diseases is like a vicious cycle. Chronic kidney diseases increase the risks of hypertension and hypertension also increases the risks of chronic kidney diseases.
Other underlying medical conditions
Medical conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease can also increase the risks of hypertension, especially if they are uncontrolled/not managed.
Advanced age
As we age our body’s blood vessels also change with age, and become more prone to narrowing and stiffness which promotes the risks of high blood pressure.
Aging promotes the degeneration of the elasticity of the large arteries (medial degeneration) and the hardening of the arteries. This makes the heart work harder in pumping blood to the rest of the body.
High blood pressure linked to advanced age is commonly seen in individuals aged 65 years and above. Issues like poor dietary habits and other unhealthy lifestyle habits also increase the risks of these problems among people aged 65 years and above.
Weight and lack of physical activity
The lack of physical activity increases the risks of excessive weight gain, especially among individuals with a sedentary lifestyle. Obesity places individuals at risk of hypertension through several mechanisms:
- Compromised kidney structure and functions: Being overweight or obese forces the kidneys to work harder because of the heightened metabolic demand. Studies on obesity and kidney disease have also shown a risk of developing chronic kidney disease among individuals who are obese.
- Insulin resistance: Obesity increases the risks of insulin resistance, which in turn increases an individual’s risk of type 2 diabetes. While obesity is in itself a risk factor for hypertension, the combination of obesity and type 2 diabetes heightens an individual’s likelihood of developing hypertension.
Modern-day dietary habits linked to excessive reliance on fast foods and lack of physical activity have increased the occurrence of “lifestyle diseases” like hypertension.
Consuming healthy meals and engaging in physical activities regularly are some of the easiest and drug-free approaches that you can use to avoid the risks of hypertension and other heart diseases.
Both Long and Short Term
Some of the factors that fall into both categories include changes in the volume of circulating blood, stress, smoking, being over 65 years of age and having a family history of hypertension.
Below is a summarized list of the top 9 risk factors for high blood pressure (hypertension)
- Lack of physical activity or not being physically active
- Consuming a diet characterized by too much salt (sodium)
- Being overweight or obese
- Excessive consumption of alcohol
- Smoking
- Advanced age (over 65 years)
- Family history of hypertension
- Certain chronic diseases like diabetes and kidney disease
- Continued exposure to high levels of stress
Recommended Blood Pressure Monitor for your personal use:
If you would like to keep track of your blood pressure over time. Here is an affordable blood pressure monitor (aka sphygmomanometer) that you can use at home.
Omron HEM 7143T1 Digital Bluetooth Blood Pressure Monitor
Dangers of High Blood Pressure
Having uncontrolled high blood pressure disease or hypertension (hypertension that is not being managed through medication and dietary modifications) puts you at risk of other conditions. It is important to know the early signs of hypertension to promote early diagnosis and management.
Common complications of hypertension include:
- Kidney diseases
- Retinopathy
- Optic Neuropathy
- Hypertensive crisis
- Heart attack and stroke
- Heart failure
- Mild cognitive impairment
- Erectile dysfunction
- Death
Note: If you’ve been diagnosed with hypertension/high blood pressure disease, it is important to adhere to your medication and the dietary guidelines that you have been given to reduce your risks of developing complications, as the risks of most of these complications are avoidable.
Recommended Read: How will you feel when your blood pressure is high
Final Words
Adopting a healthy lifestyle is the simplest and drug-free approach that we can use to reduce our risks of hypertension and most of the other non-communicable diseases that are common today.