Which are risk factors for essential hypertension?

Which are risk factors for essential hypertension?

• A. Lack of exercise, stress, alcohol intake and obesity
• B. Regular exercise and normal weight
• C. Low salt intake
• D. Hypotension

Answer: (A)

Essential hypertension is influenced by lifestyle factors that increase the workload on the heart and the resistance in the arteries. Physical inactivity leads to weight gain and metabolic changes, and it also reduces vascular elasticity and conditioning of the cardiovascular system. Chronic stress keeps the sympathetic nervous system more active over time, which can raise baseline blood pressure through sustained vasoconstriction and higher heart rate. Regularly consuming alcohol in excess contributes to higher blood pressure by increasing sympathetic activity, promoting fluid retention, and often leading to weight gain. Obesity itself drives hypertension through several pathways: increased blood volume and cardiac output, insulin resistance, activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and endothelial dysfunction. In contrast, regular exercise and normal weight are protective, low salt intake tends to lower blood pressure, and hypotension is simply low blood pressure, not a risk factor for developing hypertension.

Essential hypertension is influenced by lifestyle factors that increase the workload on the heart and the resistance in the arteries. Physical inactivity leads to weight gain and metabolic changes, and it also reduces vascular elasticity and conditioning of the cardiovascular system. Chronic stress keeps the sympathetic nervous system more active over time, which can raise baseline blood pressure through sustained vasoconstriction and higher heart rate. Regularly consuming alcohol in excess contributes to higher blood pressure by increasing sympathetic activity, promoting fluid retention, and often leading to weight gain. Obesity itself drives hypertension through several pathways: increased blood volume and cardiac output, insulin resistance, activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and endothelial dysfunction.

In contrast, regular exercise and normal weight are protective, low salt intake tends to lower blood pressure, and hypotension is simply low blood pressure, not a risk factor for developing hypertension.