Hypertension also known as high blood pressure, increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, two leading causes of death in the United States. 1. Clinicians diagnose patients as having hypertension and make treatment decisions by comparing patients' systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings to certain thresholds. Below cardiologist Luke Laffin, MD, explains some key differences — and busts some common myths along the way. 1. Blood pressure and heart rate are always linked. False: It is true that blood Havinghigh blood pressure can lead to heart disease -- the leading cause of death in U.S. adults -- but only around 1 in 4 people with high blood pressure have the disease under control. Increasedblood pressure can cause a blood vessel to weaken and bulge, forming an aneurysm. If an aneurysm ruptures, it can be life-threatening. Heart failure. When you have high blood pressure, the heart has to work harder to pump blood. The strain causes the walls of the heart's pumping chamber to thicken. Whilesmoking is a proven risk factor for heart attack and stroke, its connection to high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is still being determined. However, both smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke increase the risk for the buildup of plaque inside the arteries ( atherosclerosis) — a process that high blood pressure is known pHDn.

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