What is the relationship between high blood pressure and heart disease?
High blood pressure is a risk factor for several kinds of heart disease. For one, it is a risk factor for ischemic heart disease—the type of heart disease associated with blockages in the blood vessels of the heart, angina, and heart attacks. There are several risk factors that have been proven to put you at high risk for developing ischemic heart disease. It includes sex (male), age (older more likely), high cholesterol, a family history of coronary artery disease (people in your blood family who had heart attacks early—when younger than age 55 in males, younger than age 65 in females), tobacco use, diabetes, and yes, high blood pressure. This is, in other words, the kind of heart disease characterized by blockages in the coronary arteries that supply oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle itself. When severe blockage occurs in a significant coronary artery, (for example, a 60 to 80 percent blockage) that is when one can have angina. Angina is chest pain that manifests itself when y
