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Certain things increase your likelihood of getting high blood pressure. Doctors call these things risk factors. Your high blood pressure may be caused by a combination of risk factors.

Blood pressure tends to go up as people get older. For example, about 4 million Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 have high blood pressure, compared with about 13 million between the ages of 65 and 74.¹

Up to 1 in 10 pregnant women get high blood pressure.² If this isn't controlled, it can lead to a condition called preeclampsia.

• Preeclampsia can be very dangerous and can cause a woman to go into labor too early.
• It can also cause other health problems in the mother, and the baby may weigh too little at birth. To learn more, see Preeclampsia.

For these reasons, doctors keep a close check on pregnant women's blood pressure and treat it with medications if necessary.

High blood pressure is more common in black Americans than in any other racial or ethnic group in the United States. It also tends to happen at an earlier age and be more severe. This is one reason why black Americans die at an earlier age and are more than eight times more likely to have kidney disease than white Americans.³

If you are overweight, you are more likely to have high blood pressure than someone who is of normal weight, especially if you carry this extra weight mainly on your abdomen rather than on your hips and thighs.⁴ We don't know why this is.

Doctors tend to use two measurements to work out whether you are overweight.

• Your body mass index (or BMI). Your BMI relates your weight to your height. This gives an estimate of your body fat. If your BMI is more than 27, you have a higher risk of developing high blood pressure.⁵ You can use our calculator to work out your BMI.
• Your waist measurement. If you're a woman and your waist is more than 35 inches, you are considered overweight. If you're a man and your waist is more than 40 inches, you are considered overweight.⁴

If you don't get regular exercise, your chance of getting high blood pressure is much higher than someone who is active and fit.⁶

Here's what we know about how what you eat and drink is linked to blood pressure.

• A balanced diet that is rich in f ruit and v ege tables and low in saturated fat is linked with lower blood pressure. (Saturated fats are fats that are usually solid at room temperature. They're mostly found in butter, cream, cheese, meat and other animal products.)
• If you have more than two alcoholic dr inks a day, you are up to twice as likely to get high blood pressure as someone who doesn't drink.⁷
• But there is some evidence that drinking one or two alcoholic drinks a day may protect you against heart disease even if you have high blood pressure.
• Eating too much salt is linked to high blood pressure, but the evidence on this is mixed. For some people, salt seems to be more dangerous than it is for others. For example, older people and people with high blood pressure or diabetes are more likely to be affected by how much salt they eat.
• Your blood pressure may rise when you drink coffee, but there is no evidence that it has a lasting effect.

Smoking can raise your blood pressure by as much as 10 points on the blood pressure scale. To find out more about blood pressure readings, see What the numbers tell you.

There is some evidence that being in a very stressful situation can push up your blood pressure for a short time. But doctors aren't sure that feeling stressed has a lasting effect on your blood pressure.⁸

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment. ©BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2008. All rights reserved.