- 1 On being a patient
- 2 Modern medicine: foundations, achievements, and limitations
- 3 Global patterns of disease and medical practice
- 4 Cell biology
- 5 Immunological mechanisms
- 6 Principles of clinical oncology
- 7 Infection
- 8 Sexually transmitted diseases and sexual health
- 9 Chemical and physical injuries and environmental factors and disease
- 10 Clinical pharmacology
- 11 Nutrition
- 12 Metabolic disorders
- 13 Endocrine disorders
- 14 Medical disorders in pregnancy
- 15 Gastroenterological disorders
- 16 Cardiovascular disorders
- 16.1 Structure and function
- 16.2 Clinical presentation of heart disease
- 16.3 Clinical investigation of cardiac disorders
- 16.4 Cardiac arrhythmias
- 16.5 Cardiac failure
- 16.6 Heart valve disease
- 16.7 Diseases of heart muscle
- 16.8 Pericardial disease
- 16.9 Cardiac involvement in infectious disease
- 16.10 Tumours of the heart
- 16.11 Cardiac involvement in genetic disease
- 16.12 Congenital heart disease in the adult
- 16.13 Coronary heart disease
- 16.14 Diseases of the arteries
- 16.15 The pulmonary circulation
- 16.16 Venous thromboembolism
- 16.17 Hypertension
- 16.17.1 Essential hypertension—definition, epidemiology, and pathophysiology
- 16.17.2 Diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of essential hypertension
- 16.17.3 Secondary hypertension
- 16.17.4 Mendelian disorders causing hypertension
- 16.17.5 Hypertensive urgencies and emergencies
- 16.18 Chronic peripheral oedema and lymphoedema
- 16.19 Idiopathic oedema of women
- 17 Critical care medicine
- 18 Respiratory disorders
- 19 Rheumatological disorders
- 20 Disorders of the skeleton
- 21 Disorders of the kidney and urinary tract
- 22 Disorders of the blood
- 23 Disorders of the skin
- 24 Neurological disorders
- 25 The eye
- 26 Psychiatry and drug related problems
- 27 Forensic medicine
- 28 Sports medicine
- 29 Geratology
- 30 Pain
- 31 Palliative medicine
- 32 Biochemistry in medicine
- 33 Acute medicine
(p. 3023) Essential hypertension—definition, epidemiology, and pathophysiology
- Chapter:
- (p. 3023) Essential hypertension—definition, epidemiology, and pathophysiology
- Author(s):
Bryan Williams
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199204854.003.161701_update_001
Update:
Definitions – increasing use of automated home BP readings and ambulatory BP measurements to diagnose hypertension. Epidemiology – recognition that automated home BP and ambulatory BP measurements predict cardiovascular events better than does office BP monitoring.
‘Essential hypertension’ is high blood pressure for which there is no clearly defined aetiology. From a practical perspective, it is best defined as that level of blood pressure at which treatment to lower blood pressure results in significant clinical benefit—a level which will vary from patient to patient depending on their absolute cardiovascular risk....
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- 1 On being a patient
- 2 Modern medicine: foundations, achievements, and limitations
- 3 Global patterns of disease and medical practice
- 4 Cell biology
- 5 Immunological mechanisms
- 6 Principles of clinical oncology
- 7 Infection
- 8 Sexually transmitted diseases and sexual health
- 9 Chemical and physical injuries and environmental factors and disease
- 10 Clinical pharmacology
- 11 Nutrition
- 12 Metabolic disorders
- 13 Endocrine disorders
- 14 Medical disorders in pregnancy
- 15 Gastroenterological disorders
- 16 Cardiovascular disorders
- 16.1 Structure and function
- 16.2 Clinical presentation of heart disease
- 16.3 Clinical investigation of cardiac disorders
- 16.4 Cardiac arrhythmias
- 16.5 Cardiac failure
- 16.6 Heart valve disease
- 16.7 Diseases of heart muscle
- 16.8 Pericardial disease
- 16.9 Cardiac involvement in infectious disease
- 16.10 Tumours of the heart
- 16.11 Cardiac involvement in genetic disease
- 16.12 Congenital heart disease in the adult
- 16.13 Coronary heart disease
- 16.14 Diseases of the arteries
- 16.15 The pulmonary circulation
- 16.16 Venous thromboembolism
- 16.17 Hypertension
- 16.17.1 Essential hypertension—definition, epidemiology, and pathophysiology
- 16.17.2 Diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of essential hypertension
- 16.17.3 Secondary hypertension
- 16.17.4 Mendelian disorders causing hypertension
- 16.17.5 Hypertensive urgencies and emergencies
- 16.18 Chronic peripheral oedema and lymphoedema
- 16.19 Idiopathic oedema of women
- 17 Critical care medicine
- 18 Respiratory disorders
- 19 Rheumatological disorders
- 20 Disorders of the skeleton
- 21 Disorders of the kidney and urinary tract
- 22 Disorders of the blood
- 23 Disorders of the skin
- 24 Neurological disorders
- 25 The eye
- 26 Psychiatry and drug related problems
- 27 Forensic medicine
- 28 Sports medicine
- 29 Geratology
- 30 Pain
- 31 Palliative medicine
- 32 Biochemistry in medicine
- 33 Acute medicine