What Increases Your Risk
Things that increase your risk (risk factors) for
high blood pressure include:
- A
of high blood
pressure.
- Aging.
- Eating a lot of
sodium (salt).
- Drinking more than 2
alcoholic drinks a day for men or more than 1 alcoholic drink a day for women.
- Being overweight or obese.
- Lack of exercise or
physical activity.
- Race. African Americans are more likely to
get high blood pressure, often have more severe high blood
pressure, and are more likely to get the condition at an
earlier age than others. Why they are at greater risk is not known.
Other possible risk factors include:
- Low intake of potassium, magnesium, and
calcium.
- and sleep-disordered
breathing.
- Long-term use of pain medicines like
—for example, naproxen (such as Aleve) or
ibuprofen (such as Motrin or Advil)—or COX-2 inhibitors, such as celecoxib
(Celebrex). Aspirin does not increase your risk for
getting high blood pressure.