RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH HYPERTENSION

Abstract

Systemic arterial hypertension is a pathology associated with increased blood pressure measured in millimeters of mercury, which affects a significant part of the world's population. Therefore, knowing the risk factors that lead to the development of the disease is relevant to address resolving measures to reduce new cases and improve the quality of life for those affected. In this article, bibliographic data from 2019 to 2024 was used, taken from the Scielo, PubMed and VHL databases. The objective of this work is based on knowing and relating the main factors causing this pathology and their influence on the pathological spectrum. The results demonstrate that there are several risk factors for hypertension. Thus, it was discussed that they are intrinsic to the individual (sex and age), but are also associated with lifestyle habits, such as poor diet, physical inactivity, alcoholism, overweight and obesity, and are proven to be related to increased blood pressure levels. Furthermore, a direct relationship was noted between these factors and socioeconomic aspects. The construction of this article aims to understand how risk factors linked to high blood pressure can cause irreversible damage, highlighting the association of these factors with the bad lifestyle habits of hypertensive patients. It was observed that high blood pressure is more prevalent in countries with medium and low economic income, suggesting a link between low income, poor education and population illness.