Learning All About "The Silent Killer"

Here's some of what I learned during my research on high blood pressure (or hypertension to give it it's other name):
First off, if you know you have high blood pressure you should consider yourself very lucky.
Estimates suggest that nearly one third to as many as one half of those with high blood pressure don't even know they have it. That's the reason this condition is called "the silent killer", because for many people it offers no signs ... no symptoms ...and no warnings of the danger present.
If symptoms do appear, it's because blood pressure levels have reached the danger zone ... maybe even to the point of no return.
The risk of having high blood pressure goes up, for both men and women, as we age. Some people think of high blood pressure as only a disease of the old, but young people can have it too.
Before age 55, more men than women have hypertension. After 55, things reverse and women gain on men until they are the ones with the higher number of hypertension diagnosis.
An estimated 50 million Americans are suffering with this condition right now.
Estimates suggest that between 5% and 10% of high blood pressure is the result of kidney disease, sleep apnea, cirrhosis, Cushing's disease or pregnancy; as for the other 90% to 95%, causes remain unclear.
Current thinking is that high blood pressure may be the result of a mix of lifestyle and diet in people with genetic tendencies. Other risk factors such as race, obesity, stress, smoking and lack of exercise are all thought to increase the likelihood of developing high blood pressure.