Blood pressure is the force with which the heart pumps blood throughout the body. The body's blood pressure often rises and falls depending on the external work being done by the body. Physical activities, for example, make the heart beat faster and pump blood through the body at a more powerful rate. Hypertension, defined as chronically high blood pressure greater than 140/90 mmHg, affects nearly 75 million Americans. If left untreated, hypertension can significantly increase your risk of heart attack, stroke, and peripheral artery disease. This is the increase in blood pressure due to the dysfunction of the organs responsible for maintaining normal blood pressure, causing blood pressure to become abnormally high and remaining high. Excessive volume of blood poorly excreted by the kidneys, increased pumping of blood by the heart, and constriction of blood vessels lead to dysfunction of the body. Hypertension is often referred to as the silent killer because it has no symptoms, slowly causing serious damage and putting the person at risk of sudden death from stroke or heart disease. It is the most common risk factor for the development of cardiovascular and kidney diseases. Treatment of hypertension has been associated with a reduction in strokes, heart attacks, and heart failure. In order to prevent high blood pressure, lifestyle changes must be made. Choosing a healthier diet, avoiding smoking, and adding physical activity to one's daily routine can help reduce rates of abnormal blood flow and reduce the risk of heart complications. Exercise not only improves the functioning of the cardiovascular system, but can also lower blood pressure. The key to maximizing middle of paper......there can be a wide variation in cost. Recommendations for particular drug classes are made taking into account that sometimes only alternative drug classes will be available. However, most of the time, using blood pressure-lowering medications is more likely to help protect patients from strokes and other serious events than giving patients no medications at all. Once the treatment program becomes routine, whether through lifestyle changes or medications, it is much easier to maintain lower blood pressure. Hypertension is not a problem that can be treated and ignored. It is a condition that must be managed for the rest of one's life. Managing blood pressure is a lifelong commitment and by remembering heart failure and stroke preventative measures, one can stay on track to achieve their treatment goals and reap the benefits of a lifetime healthier..