Hypertension Is A Chronic Condition That Affects An Amount...

Hypertension is a chronic condition that affects an immense amount of people across different ages, genders, ethnicities, and health statuses. With 65 million diagnosed individuals in the US, it is the most common patient motivation to visit a physician and accounts for the largest number of prescriptions written in the country.1,2 Risk factors for disease development include unpreventable circumstances such as age and genetics in addition to modifiable behaviors such as obesity, dietary sodium intake, and physical inactivity.2 Attributing a single causative agent to hypertension poses a challenge as arterial pressure is a stem from which multiple physiologic functions and systems branch. While most documented cases (more than 95%) are†¦show more content†¦Direct kidney structural damage and renal artery stenosis decrease blood flow to and through nephrons and renal blood vessels overcoming autoregulatory compensatory mechanisms to normalize blood pressure. Increased cort icoid activity resulting from primary aldosteronism and Cushing’s syndrome unregulate the Renin-Angiotensin System (RAS) leading to hypernatremia, hypokalemia and increased ECV. Pheochromocytomas stimulate excess norepinephrine directly increase blood pressure through peripheral vasoconstriction. Resistant hypertension is a complication stemming from multiple risk factors and secondary causes that prevent an adequate antihypertensive response to a maximal 3-drug regimen.3 A hypertensive emergency requiring immediate medical attention is extremely elevated blood pressure as a complication of uncontrolled hypertension or sudden worsening of chronic hypertension. Serious implications of longstanding hypertension such as Congestive Heart Failure, Coronary Heart Disease, and Peripheral Artery Disease result from adaptions in endothelial, smooth muscle, and cardiac muscle vasculature accumulated from chronic compensatory mechanisms remodeling normal structure, tone, and thus fun ction of the circulatory system.1 Ischemic episodes such as stroke are