Antihypertensive Agents
Antihypertensive Agents
BLOOD PRESSURE
The outward pressure of blood against blood vessel wall
Product of blood flow from the heart and inward resistance of blood vessel walls
Directly proportional to cardiac output and peripheral vascular resistance
HYPERTENSION
HYPERTENSION
A sustained systolic blood pressure of greater than one hundred forty millimeters of mercury or a sustained diastolic blood pressure of greater than ninety millimeters of mercury
American Heart Association: greater than one hundred forty over ninety millimeters of mercury
World Health Organization: greater than one hundred sixty over ninety-five millimeters of mercury
ESSENTIAL/PRIMARY HTN - no specific cause; heritability is thirty percent
SECONDARY HTN - with a specific etiology (renal artery constriction, coarctation of the aorta, pheochromocytoma, Cushing's disease, and primary aldosteronism); multifactorial