Philips HF 305 User Manual page 9

Causes and consequences of high blood pressure
Causes of high blood pressure are, among other things, obesity, a high cholesterol
level, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, emotions, excessive salt
consumption, a lack of exercise, hereditary inclination towards high blood pressure
and certain diseases such as kidney and metabolic disorders.
In the long term, high blood pressure can lead to reduced elasticity of the walls of
arteries (arteriosclerosis), which is one of the major causes of cardiac infarcts,
cerebral haemorrhages and cerebral infarcts as well as kidney disorders.
Blood pressure fluctuation
The blood pressure of healthy people, but especially that of people with high blood
pressure, fluctuates greatly. Blood pressure fluctuates in the course of the day and in
the course of the month. The season and the temperature also have an impact on
blood pressure. Generally, a person's blood pressure is lower when the weather is
hot and higher when it is cold.
To give an example of the fluctuations in blood pressure that occur during the day, a
graph showing the blood pressure of a 35-year-old man has been included. The
blood pressure fluctuations may amount to 30 to 50 mmHg as a result of changing
circumstances during the day. Normally, blood pressure will go up when a person is
working or exercising and will drop to its lowest level during the hours of sleep. So
there is no need to be alarmed if one measurement shows your blood pressure to be
higher than usual.
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