The medical name for high blood pressure is hypertension (Buckman & Westcott, 2006:6).

Buckman, R & Westcott, P. 2006. What you really need to know about high blood pressure.
London. Quantum Publishers.

Hypertension refers to a systolic (top) blood pressure reading higher than 140 mm Hg and a
diastolic (bottom) blood pressure reading that is higher than 90mmHg, after several readings
to make a diagnosis that the patient is hypertensive (Khan & Beevers,2005:8,1105-1109).
Khan, J.M and Beevers. 2005. Management of hypertension in ethnic minorities. (Online).
Available:D: / www.management of hypertension in ethnic minorities.html.

The blood pressure consists of two numbers. The top number signifies the force of
contraction of the hearts main section, the left ventricle, and the lower number corresponds
with the resistance to blood flow in the arteries (Sinatra, Roberts, James & Zucker, 2007:9).
Sinatra, S.T., Roberts, J.C & Zucker, M. 2007. Reverse Heart Disease Now. Stop Deadly
Cardiovascular Plaque before its too late. The newest cardiology breakthrough to
halt arterial disease and high blood pressure, prevent heart attack, and reverse heart
failure. New Jersey. John Wiley & Sons Inc.
The term high blood pressure covers any blood pressure above 120/80 mm Hg, while
hypertension refers only to pressures of 140/90 mmHg and above (Casey & Benson,
2006:14-15). Casey, A & Benson, H. 2006. The Harvard Medical School Guide.
Lowering your blood pressure. United States of America. The McGraw Hill Companies.

High blood pressure is known as the silent killer due to the large damage caused to the
blood vessels (Tortora & Derrickson, 2006:798). Tortora, G.J & Derrickson, B. 2006.
Principles of Anatomy and Physiology.11
TH
Edition.
United States of America. John Wiley & Sons,Inc.

Hypertension is given this name because of a person not having any noticeable symptoms;
a person can have high blood pressure for years without knowing it (Kowalski, 2007:3).
Kowalski, R.F.2007. Take The Pressure Off Your Heart. South Africa. New Holland
Publishers.
Blood pressure is the amount of force applied by the blood on the inside of the arteries as
the blood is pumped throughout the circulatory system. Each time the heart muscle
contracts, blood is pressed against the walls of the arteries and is measured as systolic
blood pressure (top number). When the heart muscle relaxes between beats, the pressure
on the artery wall eases measured as diastolic blood pressure (bottom number) (Kowalski,
2007:3).
Kowalski, R.F.2007. Take The Pressure Off Your Heart. South Africa. New Holland
Publishers.



Perry (2002:13) Perry, S. 2002. Taking charge of High blood pressure: start today
strategies for combating the silent killer. New York. Readers Digest. states that high
blood pressure usually has no warning signs and therefore people do not feel sick.
Kowalski (2007:24) Kowalski, R.F.2007.Take The Pressure Off Your Heart.
South Africa. New Holland Publishers. on the other hand clarifies this by stating
that regular headache, dizziness and nose bleeds are not symptoms. These
symptoms can occur with severe hypertension. According to Buckman and Westcott
(2006:6) Buckman, R & Westcott, P. 2006. What you really need to know about high
blood pressure.London. Quantum Publishers.many people think high blood pressure
is a mild condition, but if left untreated it can lead to a number of serious medical
problems, such as heart attack, heart failure, stroke and kidney damage.

The heart has to work harder to the effect of the forceful pulsation of blood caused by
hypertension and causing continuing damage to the arterial walls (Casey & Benson,
2006:10). Casey, A & Benson, H. 2006. The Harvard Medical School
Guide.Lowering your blood pressure. United States of America. The McGraw Hill
Companies.

Buckman and Westcott (2006:10) Buckman, R & Westcott, P. 2006. What you really need
to know about high blood pressure.London. Quantum Publishers.
state that great force is needed to pump blood out of the heart and around the body. The
walls react by thickening and losing their elasticity

and strength. Due to this effect, less blood can pass through, depriving surrounding tissues
of oxygen and nutrients. Therefore, it can cause the heart to become enlarged and the
arteries scarred and less elastic.

Akinboboye et al. (2002:17,381-382), confirm that hypertension is by far the most common
cardio-vascular disease followed by rheumatic heart disease and cardiomiopathy,
nonrheumatic heart diseases, coronary artery disease, pericardial vascular disease and
pulmonary heart disease.
Mild hypertension

It is when the systolic reading (upper reading) is between 140-159 mmHg and diastolic
(lower reading) is between 90-99mmHg. Department of Health (2008:62).

Severe hypertension

It is when the systolic (upper reading) is 180mmHg or more and the diastolic (lower reading)
is 110 mmHg or more according to the Department of Health (2008:62).

Malignant hypertension

It is a most common form of high blood pressure. Malignant hypertension is noticeable by an
unusually sudden rise in blood pressure to dangerous levels, often with a diastolic reading
reaching 120-130mmHg (Kowalski, 2007:7). Kowalski (2007:7) further claimed that
malignant hypertension is a medical emergency that places people at an immediate risk for
heart attack, stroke, heart failure, permanent kidney failure and bleeding in the brain.
The World Health Organization is predicting an epidemic of hypertension in clinical practice;
most patients with hypertension are undiagnosed, untreated, or sub-optimally treated
according to Mohan and Campbell (2007:n.p.). Hypertension is responsible for more deaths
worldwide than any other cardiovascular risk factor (Gaziano, Steyn, Cohen, Weinstein &
Opie, 2005:n.p.). Whelton, He and Louis (2003:1) state that hypertension is an important
challenge worldwide due to the high occurrence and the related increase of cardiovascular
and renal disease.

About 50 million Americans have hypertension or persistently have high blood pressure
(Tortora & Derrickson, 2006:798). The number of people with hypertension is expected to




increase due to the aging of the population (Nettina, 2006:454). Only 70% of these people
are aware that they have hypertension (Beers, Porter, Jones, Kaplan & Berkwitz, 2006:604).
Tortora and Derrickson (2006:798) further stated that it is the most common disorder affecting
the heart and blood vessels. Nettina (2006:454) emphasized that only a few of the huge
majority diagnosed with hypertension are aware that they have hypertension and are treated
for it and fewer have gained sufficient control of their blood pressure. Camm, Lscher and
Serruys (2006:256) claimed that in many countries, up to 30% of adults have hypertension.

According to Sinatra, Roberts and Zucker (2007:7) nearly one third of the 10 million British
people are walking around with hypertension and are not even aware of it. The first
indication of trouble is a stroke or heart attack.

Loscalzo (2005:3) stated that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in United
States with adults, liable for approximately 40% of deaths in men and 41% of deaths in
women. The mortality and morbidity rate is projected to increase in China over the next 20
years. Although the burden of infectious disease has fallen, changes in lifestyle and diet and
an increase in life expectancy have resulted in a greatly increased burden of cardiovascular
disease CVD and other chronic diseases( Gu, Reynolds, Wu, Chen, Duan, Muntner, Huang,
Reynolds, Su, Whelton & He, 2010:n.p).

There has been no systemic evaluation of national programs to prevent and control
hypertension to help countries in minimizing the burden of disease associated with
hypertension (Mohan & Campbell, 2007 n.p.).

Sinatra, et al. (2007:6) emphasized that people with uncontrolled high blood pressure are
seven times more likely to have a stroke, three times more likely to develop coronary heart
disease and six times more likely to develop congestive heart failure. Nettina (2006:455)
claimed that hypertension is one of the widespread chronic diseases for which treatment is
available, however, most patients with hypertension are untreated. Recent figures have
shown that only 70% of adults with hypertension are aware that they have hypertension,
59% receive treatment and only 34% reach blood pressure control (Nettina, 2006:455).