​High blood pressure is called Hypertension. It is the force against the walls of arteries. It is expressed as an upper number called systolic blood pressure and a lower number called diastolic blood pressure. For example, the upper limit of normal blood pressure is 120/80 mmHg. Hypertension is said to be present If the blood pressure is 140/90 or higher most of the time.

​Hypertension is one of the leading causes of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in the United States. It also increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Controlling the blood pressure can help reduce these risks.

​Most of the time there is no specific cause of the hypertension and that is called Essential Hypertension. Sometimes other medical conditions can cause hypertension and this is called Secondary Hypertension. For example chronic kidney disease can cause hypertension too.

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