Permission is granted, at no cost and without need for further request, for individuals, Blood pressure and genetics outlets, and non-commercial prdssure and awareness efforts to link Anti-inflammatory lifestyle choices, geneticz, excerpt genteics or reprint these stories in ad medium as Metabolic rate and aging Blood pressure and genetics no text pressufe altered and proper attribution is made to American Heart Association News. All replication data generated during this study are included in the published article. Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ioanna Tzoulaki, the study's senior author and an epidemiologist at Imperial College London, added, "This approach is evolving as a powerful cost- and time-efficient tool to help prioritize or design those trials that are more likely to be successful. Article Google Scholar Willer, C.

Blood pressure and genetics -

High blood pressure means the force of blood flowing through your arteries is greater than it should be. If not controlled, it could damage your blood vessels and cause other health problems. High blood pressure hypertension tends to be a condition we associate with being too sedentary or getting older.

But high blood pressure can also be a genetic condition, affecting people who are otherwise fit and healthy. Familial hypertension may also result from a family lifestyle that includes high blood pressure risk factors, such as smoking or an unhealthy diet.

Blood pressure is the force of circulating blood against the inner wall of your arteries. According to the American Heart Association , healthy blood pressure is a systolic pressure of less than mm Hg and a diastolic pressure of less than 80 mm Hg. If your blood pressure is higher than that, doctors consider you to have elevated blood pressure or stage 1 or 2 hypertension.

Risk factors for high blood pressure include a family history of hypertension, as well as:. What makes high blood pressure so dangerous is that it can exist for a long time without presenting any obvious symptoms.

Measuring your blood pressure is the only way to know if you have hypertension. Symptoms can include:. Research from suggests that high blood pressure results from a combination of factors, including genetic, environmental, and behavioral components.

Unlike some diseases with only one or a few genes as risk factors, familial hypertension can result from variations in hundreds of different genes, according to a study of more than , individuals. This makes it difficult to pinpoint specific genes that could be treatment targets.

Smoking or even breathing in secondhand smoke can raise blood pressure risks. A diet high in sodium and saturated fat may also cause a blood pressure increase. A study examining how sex differences may affect the genetic risk for hypertension suggests that the effects of genes may be greater in women than in men.

Beyond this, men and women are at equal risk for hypertension, though men tend to develop it at a younger age. Research from notes that the prevalence of hypertension among African Americans is higher than in other ethnic or racial groups in the United States.

A variation in the ARMC5 gene may help explain why. Monogenic hypertension refers to blood pressure caused by one genetic variant inherited from a parent. Monogenic hypertension accounts for about 30 percent of hypertension cases. Most of those are associated with imbalances of electrolytes, such as potassium.

There are several types of monogenic hypertension syndromes, each with a unique set of origins and symptoms. These include:. Knowing about your family medical history is important for many reasons. A history of certain cancers, for example, may determine when you get screened for those cancers.

One way to organize information about your family health history, as well as your own, is to use My Family Health Portrait , an online tool created by the National Institutes of Health. You can gather your family medical history, share it with other relatives, and learn about your risk levels for conditions that tend to run in families.

If your blood pressure is currently at a healthy level, you can make several key lifestyle adjustments to lower the odds of it rising too much. If your blood pressure is higher than usual, these steps, along with medications, may help you bring it back down to a healthy range:.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute developed the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension DASH eating plan as a heart-healthy eating strategy. The diastolic reading measures the pressure in the arteries when the heart relaxes between beats.

These risk factors play a role in your likelihood of developing high blood pressure. Having a parent with high blood pressure raises your risk of developing hypertension, especially if both parents have the condition. Research has found that having grandparents with hypertension also raises your risk of developing the condition, especially if a grandparent developed hypertension before the age of According to research, genetics plays a bigger role in whether women develop hypertension, especially early-onset hypertension, than it does in men.

These changes increase the chance of developing high blood pressure. Men younger than age 65 have higher levels of high blood pressure compared to womenof the same age. However, once a woman reaches menopause the time when periods have stopped for 12 months in a row , risk for high blood pressure levels out with that of men.

Black Americans are more likely to have high blood pressure than other racial and ethnic groups, and are more likely to develop the condition earlier in life. They are also more likely to have severe high blood pressure. Hispanics and non-Hispanic Asians in the United States have lower rates of high blood pressure than both non-Hispanic Blacks and non-Hispanic Whites.

In addition to genetics, factors such as income levels and access to health care contribute to higher rates among certain groups. Modifiable risk factors are ones that you have some control over. Here's a look at some of the top modifiable risk factors for high blood pressure.

Eating too much sodium salt raises your risk of high blood pressure. Not eating enough potassium can also raise your risk for hypertension. Potassium helps balance some of the harmful effects of eating too much sodium. Foods such as bananas, potatoes, and beans are good sources of potassium.

Eating too much red meat, sugary foods and beverages, plus saturated and trans fats, can also contribute to high blood pressure. Being overweight increases the incidence of high blood pressure because it puts more strain on your heart, forcing it to work harder to pump blood.

Losing as little as 5 to 10 pounds has been found to help lower blood pressure. Having too much LDL bad cholesterol and too little HDL good cholesterol is linked to an increased risk for hypertension. Cholesterol can build up and form plaque on arteries, making it harder for the heart to pump blood through them.

Being physically active helps lower the risk of hypertension because it helps keep arteries flexible. It's recommended to get at least minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity. Examples are brisk walking or bike riding.

Limiting your alcohol intake can help prevent hypertension. Alcohol consumption should be capped at one drink per day for women, and two drinks per day for men.

One drink is defined as one ounce beer, 4 ounces of wine, or 1. While the link between cigarette smoking and hypertension is still unclear, it is known that smoking or being exposed to secondhand smoke increases the risk of plaque buildup in the arteries.

Too much plaque in the arteries can contribute to hypertension. Some medical conditions make it more likely for you to have high blood pressure, or can be caused by high blood pressure. More than half of all people with diabetes also have high blood pressure. High blood pressure is more common in people with type 2 diabetes who experience obesity, and in type 1 diabetics who are older or have kidney disease.

Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes brief periods in which a person stops breathing during sleep. The stress on the body can cause blood pressure to remain elevated, leading to hypertension. Sleep apnea also causes sleep deprivation, which can contribute to hypertension.

Uncontrolled hypertension can cause harm to the kidneys and is the second leading cause of kidney failure in the United States. High blood pressure causes the blood vessels to the kidneys to narrow, which affects how the kidneys work.

This extra fluid can cause increased blood pressure, furthering damaging the kidneys and resulting in kidney failure. Less than half of people with high blood pressure have it under control.

Healthcare providers will typically first recommend lifestyle changes to control hypertension. Some people may need to go on medication. The six types of blood pressure medications are:.

High blood pressure affects almost half of all Americans and is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease. Having close family members with hypertension raises your risk of developing the condition. Your risk also increases with age. Black Americans are more likely to have high blood pressure than any other race or ethnic group.

You can help reduce your risk of high blood pressure by eating a healthy diet, staying physically active, limiting your alcohol consumption, and quitting smoking if you're a smoker.

High blood pressure can be treated with prescription medications; they work best when combined with healthy lifestyle changes.

This can be done using an at-home device or in a medical office. Over time, hypertension can harm different organs, including the heart, kidneys, brain, and eyes. Results were published online on September 12, in Nature Genetics. The first study analyzed Cardio-Metabochip microarray data from 74 studies that included over , people of European ancestry.

Using these data, the researchers identified 66 blood-pressure associated regions of the genome loci , 17 of which were previously unknown. Analyses suggested that many of the newly identified loci may play a role within cells lining blood vessels in controlling blood pressure.

There was no enrichment of a single predominant genetic pathway in the data, reflecting the complexity of blood pressure influences. The group found comparable results in a group of more than 64, people of South Asian, East Asian, and African descent.

The second research group performed a genome-wide analysis of more than , people. Their meta-analysis of Human Exome BeadChip gene array Exome Chip data revealed 31 new blood pressure-associated loci and confirmed 39 that had been previously identified.

These loci were strongly linked to genetic risk of heart disease and heart attack. A third team led by United Kingdom-based researchers used Exome Chip data to screen nearly , people. Their meta-analysis identified 30 new blood pressure-associated regions of the genome. Taken together, these 3 studies expand our understanding of the genetic components of blood pressure by doubling the number of reported blood pressure genes.

They also highlight potential new targets for treating hypertension. Christopher Newton-Cheh of Massachusetts General Hospital, a senior author of the first 2 papers.

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