Hypertension and cardiovascular disease? -

I know everyone says this a big risk factor, but what is the precise mechaism of how hypertension leads to cardiovascualr disease

Persistent hypertension is one of the risk factors for strokes, heart attacks, heart failure and arterial aneurysm, and is a leading cause of chronic renal failure. Hypertensive retinopathy is damage to the retina due to high blood pressure (i.e. hypertension) (Wikipedia) High blood pressure increases the heart s workload, and over time, this can cause the heart muscle to thicken. As the heart pumps against elevated pressure in the blood vessels, the left ventricle becomes enlarged and the amount of blood pumped by the heart each minute (cardiac output) goes down. Without treatment, symptoms of congestive heart failure may develop. High blood pressure is the most common risk factor for heart disease and stroke. It can cause ischemic heart disease (decreased blood to the heart muscle that results in anginal chest pain and heart attacks) from the increased supply of oxygen needed by the thicker heart muscle. High blood pressure also contributes to thickening of the blood vessel walls, which in turn may aggravate atherosclerosis (increased cholesterol deposits in the blood vessels). This also increases the risk of heart attacks and stroke. Hypertensive heart disease is the leading cause of illness and death from hypertension. It affects approximately 7 out of 1,000 people. Renovascular hypertension is a form of secondary hypertension. Most forms of hypertension are considered quot;essential,quot; and the cause is unknown. But a small number of high blood pressure patients have quot;secondary hypertension,quot; which means an underlying disease is identified as the cause. During renovascular hypertension, one or both of the kidney arteries become narrow. This reduces blood flow to the kidneys, and the affected kidney or kidneys mistakenly respond as if the patient s blood pressure is low. They secrete hormones that tell the body to retain salt and water. This causes an increase in blood pressure. Many different diseases can cause narrowing of the renal arteries. Renal artery stenosis is one of the most common. Hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage is caused by long-term high blood pressure (hypertension). When blood pressure has remained high for a significant period of time, the walls of blood vessels change. Constant, high blood pressure wears away at the vessel walls and can lead to blockage of the vessels and leakage of blood into the brain. Blood irritates the brain tissues, causing swelling (cerebral edema). The blood collects into a mass called a hematoma. (MedlinePlus) Please see the web pages for more details on Hypertension, Myocardial infarction, Hypertensive heart disease, Hypertensive nephropathy, Renovascular hypertension, Cerebrovascular accident, Intracerebral hemorrhage and Hypertensive retinopathy.

When you have hypertension, your heart is working harder than it should on a 24/7 basis. If you don t get the hypertension under control, your heart will just get too tired to keep working, or can break down. (The breakdown is the cardiovascular disease.)