Hypertension

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a chronic condition in which the force of blood against the walls of the arteries stays too high over time. It is usually defined by sustained readings at or above a threshold, now commonly set at 130/80 mmHg for diagnosis and treatment in the 2025 American guideline and at 140/90 mmHg in WHO's general definition. Because it often causes no symptoms, it is frequently found only through measurement. It is also the most prevalent modifiable risk factor for heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and dementia, which makes it one of the most consequential conditions in public health. The World Health Organization estimated that about 1.4 billion adults aged 30–79 had hypertension in 2024, and that only about one in five had it under control.

This entry treats hypertension as a problem spanning physiology, medicine, epidemiology, and health policy. It first explains how blood pressure is generated and regulated, then distinguishes primary from secondary hypertension and reviews the genetic, lifestyle, and demographic factors that raise risk. Next it covers how the condition damages blood vessels and organs, how it is measured and diagnosed, and how risk is estimated. The later sections address treatment, including lifestyle measures, the main drug classes, special populations such as pregnant people and those with kidney disease, resistant hypertension, and acute emergencies. The entry closes with the history of its discovery, its global burden and control gaps, the evolution of clinical guidelines, and questions that remain under active study.

Blood pressure: definition and units

Blood pressure is the force that circulating blood exerts against the walls of the arteries. It is produced mainly by the heart's pumping action and is kept within range by the elasticity and tone of the arterial system. Because the heart ejects blood in pulses rather than in a steady stream, pressure rises and falls over each cardiac cycle, so it is described with two values:

• Systolic pressure is the peak, reached when the ventricles contract and eject blood.
• Diastolic pressure is the lower level, present while the heart relaxes and refills between beats.

The two are written as a pair, systolic first (for example, 120/80). The difference between them, called pulse pressure, reflects how much each heartbeat stretches the arteries, which links it to arterial stiffness (discussed in the physiology section).

Units

Clinical blood pressure is usually reported in millimetres of mercury (mmHg). The unit comes from early manometers, in which arterial pressure pushed a column of mercury up a glass tube, and the height of that column in millimetres gave the reading. The same convention was carried into the first practical cuff devices. In the International System of Units, pressure is measured in SI pascals (Pa), with one mmHg equal to about 133.3 Pa. Thus 120/80 mmHg corresponds to roughly 16.0/10.7 kPa. Some health systems quote kPa, so conversion is necessary when comparing studies or guidelines. Concerns about mercury toxicity have led many health systems to phase out mercury-based devices, but the mmHg unit has been retained in clinical practice.

Classification thresholds

Under the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline, and unchanged in the 2025 AHA/ACC guideline, the categories are:

• Normal: systolic below 120 and diastolic below 80.
• Elevated: systolic 120–129 and diastolic below 80.
• Stage 1 hypertension: systolic 130–139 or diastolic 80–89.
• Stage 2 hypertension: systolic 140 or higher, or diastolic 90 or higher.

The 2017 guideline was the important break with earlier practice. It lowered the diagnostic threshold for adults to 130/80 mmHg, whereas the previous guideline had used 140/90 mmHg for adults under 65 and 150/80 mmHg for those 65 and older, and it abolished the older category of prehypertension. The 2025 guideline kept these categories and the diagnostic threshold, but changed the treatment recommendations for people in the stage 1 range, depending on their estimated cardiovascular risk.

The WHO uses a single, higher threshold. Clinical hypertension is defined as systolic pressure of at least 140 mmHg and/or diastolic pressure of at least 90 mmHg on two different days. The European Society of Cardiology and the European Society of Hypertension also use 140/90 mmHg as the diagnostic cut-off, but they subdivide the range by grade or category and below it use different "high-normal" or "elevated" bands. As a result, many adults classed as stage 1 in the United States fall into the elevated or high-normal category under European criteria. The WHO also stresses that blood pressure below the diagnostic threshold can still raise the risk of heart and kidney disease, so the threshold is a cut-off for diagnosis, not a point at which risk begins.

Why diagnosis rests on repeated, averaged readings

A single reading is an unreliable basis for diagnosis. Pressure varies within minutes and across the day with posture, activity, talking, pain, a full bladder, caffeine, smoking, and anxiety. It also varies from week to week. Some people show a "white-coat" rise in pressure in the clinic, while others have normal readings in the office but elevated readings at home or over 24 hours. Measurement error from the device and the technique adds further variation, which is why the uncertainty of measurement matters in diagnosis. Averaging several readings taken on separate occasions reduces these effects and gives a more stable estimate of a person's usual level. Because a single high reading often falls back on repeat measurement, guidelines require confirmation before a diagnosis is made. Standard measurement procedures, and the role of out-of-office monitoring, are described in the measurement section.

Related

Blood pressure is a physical pressure measured in clinical diagnostic practice, and its classification is set by WHO and national guideline bodies.

Physiology of blood pressure regulation

Determinants of pressure

Mean arterial pressure depends mainly on two quantities: cardiac output and total peripheral resistance. Cardiac output is the volume the heart ejects each minute, which is calculated by multiplying stroke volume by heart rate. Total peripheral resistance is the opposition to flow offered by the systemic circulation, located mostly in the arterioles. Pressure is roughly their product, $\text{MAP} \approx \text{CO} \times \text{TPR}$, so anything that raises either term tends to raise pressure. A decrease in the diameter of the vessels increases resistance and blood pressure. Because flow resistance scales with the inverse fourth power of vessel radius (Poiseuille's law), small changes in arteriolar calibre have large effects. Changes to blood viscosity and length of the blood vessels also alter resistance to blood flow.

Short-term neural control

Pressure is sensed beat by beat by arterial baroreceptors, stretch-sensitive nerve endings located in the carotid sinuses and the aortic arch. Their firing rate rises as wall stretch increases, and their signals reach the nucleus tractus solitarius in the medulla. Increased afferent input to the NTS enhances parasympathetic outflow and inhibits sympathetic outflow to the heart and peripheral vasculature, leading to decreased heart rate and contractility, vasodilation, and decreased peripheral resistance. When pressure falls, the balance reverses: sympathetic activity increases heart rate, contractility and vasoconstriction. Cardiopulmonary receptors in the low-pressure circulation add information about blood volume. In the short term, within seconds to minutes, these adjustments are achieved through the pivotal activity of autonomic nerves affecting the heart and peripheral vessels. In sustained hypertension the baroreflex is often reset to operate around a higher pressure, which is one reason the system stops correcting elevated readings.

Long-term renal and hormonal control

Over hours to days, the kidneys regulate the volume of fluid in the circulation by adjusting how much sodium and water they reabsorb, a process linked to the handling of electrolytes and water. When pressure rises, the kidneys excrete more salt and water (pressure natriuresis), which lowers volume and pressure; when pressure falls, they retain them. The renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) is the main hormonal arm of this control. Renin is released by juxtaglomerular cells when renal perfusion falls, when the macula densa detects reduced sodium delivery, or under sympathetic stimulation of β1 receptors. Angiotensin II acts on AT1 receptors in arteriolar endothelium to activate a Gq protein whose signalling cascade increases intracellular calcium causing vasoconstriction. It also acts on the brain to increase sympathetic output. Aldosterone from the adrenal cortex promotes sodium retention in the distal nephron, while angiotensin II and vasopressin (ADH) increase water retention and hormonal signalling further supports volume expansion. ADH mainly functions to increase free water reabsorption in the collecting duct of the nephrons within the kidney, causing an increase in plasma volume and arterial pressure. The overall effect of RAAS activation is to restore pressure through both vasoconstriction and volume expansion, which is why RAAS blockade is an important pharmacological target (see pharmacology).

Arterial stiffness and the pulsatile circulation

Pressure is not constant between heartbeats, and its shape depends on the elasticity of the large arteries. The aorta and other elastic arteries stretch during systole, storing part of the stroke volume, and recoil during diastole, pushing blood onward. This recoil keeps diastolic pressure above zero and maintains forward flow through the peripheral circulation. As arteries stiffen with age and sustained pressure, this buffering declines. The pulse pressure, the difference in the value of the systolic and diastolic blood pressure, therefore widens, with systolic pressure rising more than diastolic. Changes in the diameter and tone of smaller arteries and arterioles act alongside this elastic buffering, determining how much resistance the heart must overcome and how quickly pressure falls between beats. Together, cardiac output, peripheral resistance, neural reflexes, renal volume control and arterial mechanics form a layered system that keeps pressure within a narrow range, a process of homeostasis whose failure underlies the sustained elevation that defines hypertension.

Primary and secondary hypertension

Primary (essential) hypertension

Primary hypertension, also called essential hypertension, is elevated blood pressure for which no single identifiable cause can be found. It accounts for the large majority of cases. Secondary forms are found in only about 5–10% of people with hypertension, so the diagnosis of primary disease is the default once other causes have been considered. Its origin is multifactorial. Genetic susceptibility, the kidney's handling of sodium, vascular tone and the lifestyle and social exposures described elsewhere in this entry gradually raise the level at which pressure is regulated.

Secondary hypertension

Secondary hypertension is high blood pressure that can be traced to a specific disorder or exposure. The most important causes are:

• Chronic kidney disease, through renal parenchymal damage. This is one of the commonest causes at all ages.
• Primary aldosteronism, in which an adrenal gland produces excess aldosterone. Of the endocrine causes associated with hypertension, primary aldosteronism is the most common. Screening is recommended in people with resistant hypertension, low potassium, or adrenal incidentalomas of at least 1 cm, among others.
• Renal artery stenosis, a narrowing of the arteries supplying the kidneys. Reduced renal perfusion activates the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system. In older adults the narrowing is usually atherosclerotic, while in younger people fibromuscular dysplasia is more frequent.
• Obstructive sleep apnea, which is now recognized as an exceedingly common contributor.
• Thyroid and adrenal disorders, including hypo- and hyperthyroidism, Cushing syndrome and pheochromocytoma.
• Aortic coarctation, a narrowing of the aorta that is a prominent cause in children.

The distribution of causes shifts with age. Among hypertensive patients aged 18–40 years, 29.6% had a secondary cause, with primary aldosteronism accounting for over half of these cases. Guidelines therefore advise looking for secondary causes in people with early-onset hypertension, stage 2 hypertension, treatment resistance, sudden worsening of previously controlled pressure, or organ damage that seems out of proportion to the blood pressure level.

Drug- and substance-induced hypertension

Medications and substances are a significant and often overlooked cause of raised pressure.

• Oral contraceptives. Estrogen increases circulating angiotensinogen, which raises the activity of the renin–angiotensin system. A meta-analysis of 270,284 participants showed a positive association between duration of oral contraceptive use and risk of hypertension. Pressure usually returns toward baseline after the pill is stopped. Older high-dose formulations carried the greatest risk, but lower-dose pills can also raise readings.
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. By blocking prostaglandin synthesis, NSAIDs impair sodium excretion. NSAID use has been shown to increase systolic pressure by an average of 5 mm Hg, and in those with established hypertension, by as much as 14 mm Hg. The effect depends on dose, duration and dietary salt, and it can blunt the action of drugs that act on the renin–angiotensin system.
• Decongestants. Oral sympathomimetics such as pseudoephedrine narrow blood vessels throughout the body, not only in the nose, so they can raise pressure. Nasal sprays carry a lower risk.
• Stimulants. Stimulant medications used for attention-deficit disorders can raise blood pressure, and recreational stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine can cause acute, severe elevations.
• Other agents. Corticosteroids, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, certain antidepressants (MAO inhibitors and tricyclics), and excessive alcohol are also implicated.

Why identifying secondary causes matters

Finding a secondary cause changes management in two ways. First, treating the underlying disorder can improve control and lower cardiovascular risk. Second, some causes can be cured outright. Unilateral aldosterone-producing adenomas can be removed surgically, and pheochromocytoma and Cushing syndrome can also be treated definitively. In one reported case, revascularizing a narrowed renal artery did not normalize pressure, but adrenalectomy for an aldosterone-producing adenoma later restored normal potassium levels and normotension without medication. This case also shows how a second cause can delay the correct diagnosis. Because secondary forms are uncommon and testing is costly and laborious, guidelines favor targeted screening over testing every hypertensive patient. Identifying and stopping an offending drug is often the simplest intervention of all.

Risk factors and determinants

Hypertension has no single cause. Its determinants fall into three broad groups: factors that cannot be changed, behaviours and environmental exposures that can, and social conditions that shape both. Most of the population-attributable risk is modifiable, which is why prevention and population policy occupy a large part of the public-health response.

Non-modifiable factors

Age is the strongest of the fixed determinants. Systolic pressure tends to rise steadily through adult life because large arteries stiffen with age, and the WHO notes that people over 65 are more likely to have hypertension than younger adults. Family history is also a consistent predictor, and twin and family studies indicate a substantial heritable component. Sex differences shift with life stage: men typically have higher rates in early and middle adulthood, while women's rates rise sharply after menopause and in some cases exceed men's in older age. Ethnicity matters in epidemiological terms; in the United States, for example, prevalence among Black adults is markedly higher than among White or Hispanic adults. However, the genetic architecture of blood pressure is polygenic, and the genes identified by genome-wide association studies explain only a modest share of inter-individual variation. Racial and ethnic disparities in prevalence are not explained by genetic differences alone; sociodemographic, environmental and behavioural factors are considered the main contributors.

Lifestyle and environmental drivers

Dietary sodium is the most important modifiable dietary factor. Sodium intake is positively correlated with blood pressure and accounts for much of the age-related rise in pressure in many populations. Most sodium in high-income countries comes from processed and restaurant foods rather than the salt shaker, which makes population-level reformulation a key lever. Low potassium intake, typically reflecting low consumption of fruit, vegetables, legumes and dairy, is associated with higher pressure, and the ratio of sodium to potassium may be a stronger predictor than either alone. Excess alcohol raises pressure in a dose-dependent manner, while physical inactivity and an unhealthy diet high in saturated and trans fats add to the burden. Overweight and obesity are among the most consistent associations: pressure rises with body weight, central (abdominal) fat distribution is more strongly linked to pressure than overall body mass, and early-life obesity predicts later hypertension. Tobacco use contributes both through acute sympathetic activation and through long-term vascular injury. Air pollution is also recognised as an environmental risk factor, with its effects most evident in vascular and cardiovascular outcomes.

Psychosocial and socioeconomic contributors

Chronic psychological stress, which activates the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, is proposed as a contributor, though its independent effect is harder to quantify than that of diet or weight. Socioeconomic position shows a consistent gradient in many settings. Meta-analyses of high-income cohorts report higher hypertension risk among people with lower income, lower occupational status and lower educational attainment, with education often showing the strongest association. Low-income and low-education groups may face food insecurity, reliance on energy-dense and inexpensive foods, less opportunity for physical activity, limited health literacy and, in many countries, poor access to diagnosis, affordable medicines and continuous care. Studies in low- and middle-income countries have reported a more complex pattern: in some settings the association between wealth or education and hypertension is positive, and as countries develop economically, hypertension may increasingly affect the poorest groups. Lack of health insurance and unemployment have also been linked to higher risk, independent of conventional clinical risk factors.

Clustering with metabolic disease

Risk factors rarely occur in isolation. Excess adiposity, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and raised fasting glucose tend to cluster in the same individuals, forming what is often called metabolic syndrome. Insulin resistance promotes renal sodium retention and sympathetic activation, providing a direct mechanistic link to pressure, and diabetes and hypertension frequently coexist and compound each other's vascular effects. Dyslipidaemia contributes to atherosclerosis, so the same individual may carry overlapping pressure, lipid and glycaemic risks. Because of this clustering, risk estimation and treatment decisions usually consider the whole cardiometabolic profile rather than blood pressure alone, and interventions that improve diet, weight and physical activity tend to act on several risk factors simultaneously.

Vascular and organ damage mechanisms

Hypertension injures the body through a sequence that begins in the innermost layer of the arteries. The endothelium (the single cell layer lining blood vessels) normally releases nitric oxide, a vasodilator with antiatherogenic and vasoprotective effects. Increased oxidant stress is thought to represent a major mechanism leading to reduced vascular availability of endothelium-derived nitric oxide. The main sources of the reactive oxygen species involved include vascular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidases, uncoupled nitric oxide synthase and xanthine oxidase. Endothelin-1, a potent vasoconstrictor, may rise at the same time, so that decreased nitric oxide production and increased production of endothelin-1 in the vascular wall may promote oxidative stress and low-grade inflammation. Whether this dysfunction causes hypertension or follows from it remains disputed. Impaired nitric oxide-dependent vasodilation has been documented in some normotensive people with a hypertensive family history, yet endothelial function also tends to recover when blood pressure is lowered.

Sustained pressure then changes the structure of the arterial wall. Reduced nitric oxide availability is one contributor to arterial stiffening, and impaired NO bioactivity is also implicated in arterial stiffness, a major mechanism of systolic hypertension. Stiffer large arteries transmit the pulse wave faster and raise systolic pressure while lowering diastolic pressure, which widens pulse pressure. Reactive oxygen species also drive remodeling: they promote increased vascular cell proliferation and migration, apoptosis, inflammation and extracellular matrix changes that thicken the wall and narrow the lumen. Endothelin-1 has been linked to arterial aging and the development of atherosclerotic changes. These processes, together with the lipid and inflammatory burden that accompanies metabolic risk, promote atherosclerosis in the aorta, coronary arteries and carotid arteries, which in turn feeds back on the pressure load.

The heart and kidney respond to this chronic afterload. The left ventricle is the principal cardiac target of hypertension. Over 30% of patients with hypertension worldwide are estimated to have left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), which severity correlates with high incidence and risk of death from CVD. Early on, the muscle thickens and the chamber stiffens, which impairs relaxation and raises filling pressure; this is a diastolic problem. When the left ventricular hypertrophy caused by long-term high blood pressure exceeds the compensatory threshold of the heart, it will inhibit the pumping function of the heart, which is the transition toward heart failure. Chronic sympathetic activation contributes to myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis, and the enlarged muscle needs more oxygen than its coronary supply often provides, which can cause ischemia. In the kidney, the glomerular capillaries are affected in two stages. Initially, preglomerular vasoconstriction of the afferent arteriole is thought to shield the glomerulus, but over time the reduced renal blood flow and sustained pressure lead to glomerular ischemia, capillary wall wrinkling, global glomerulosclerosis and progressive nephrosclerosis. Albuminuria is an early marker of this glomerular endothelial damage.

The cerebral small vessels are among the most vulnerable beds. The dominant lesion is concentric, fibrotic thickening of small penetrating arteries (up to 300 microns outer diameter) termed arteriolosclerosis. Blocked or fibrotic penetrating arteries produce lacunes, while diffuse damage to the periventricular and deep white matter appears on MRI as white matter hyperintensities. Hypertension also disrupts the blood–brain barrier, promoting neuroinflammation and exacerbation of amyloid pathologies. This cerebral small vessel disease is common with age: found at autopsy in over 50% of people aged ≥65 years. The resulting lesions are linked to cognitive decline. In a cohort of hypertensive patients, patients with marked progression of periventricular WMH showed a significant decrease in global cognition compared with patients without progression. Progression is not uniform, however: in the Rotterdam Scan Study, higher blood pressure did not add to lesion progression in people who already had severe lesions at baseline or in the very old.

Together, these mechanisms explain why the same pressure can damage several organs at different speeds. Changes at the endothelium and the arterial wall precede visible organ damage, and some of them, such as LVH and albuminuria, are partly reversible with blood pressure control. Blood pressure control with lifestyle changes and antihypertensive agents has been demonstrated to prevent and regress LVH. Damage to the small vessels of the brain is less easily reversed, which is why its prevention matters for later cognitive outcomes.

Clinical course, symptoms, and complications

Why hypertension is usually silent

Raised blood pressure rarely produces sensations that a person can recognize, which is why it is often described as a silent condition. Most adults with hypertension have no symptoms, and many patients learn of their condition only from a routine measurement. Headache, dizziness, or visual change are sometimes attributed to high pressure, but these complaints are nonspecific and occur in people with normal readings too, so they cannot be used to judge whether pressure is controlled. Symptoms tend to appear mainly when pressure reaches levels that cause acute harm. Emergency presentations include blindness, chest pain, heart attack, memory loss or personality change, serious damage to the body's main artery (aortic dissection), and stroke. By that stage, damage has usually been accumulating for years.

Natural history of untreated disease

Hypertension typically develops gradually. Primary hypertension moves from occasional elevations to established disease, and after a long period without symptoms, persistent hypertension leads to complicated hypertension, in which target-organ damage to the aorta and small arteries, heart, kidneys, retina, and central nervous system becomes evident. In older descriptions of untreated mild to moderate disease, roughly a third of patients were estimated to develop atherosclerotic disease, and about half to show organ damage, within 8 to 10 years of onset.

Risk rises steadily with the level of pressure rather than appearing only above a fixed cut-off. In the Framingham Heart Study, people with the highest blood pressure had roughly two to three times the age-adjusted risk of heart failure compared with those with the lowest readings, with the ratio higher in women. Large prospective pooled analyses from the late 1990s and early 2000s, which followed adults from middle age, found that each 20 mmHg rise in systolic pressure, or 10 mmHg in diastolic pressure, roughly doubled the mortality from ischemic heart disease and stroke across the usual range.

The damage follows several routes. Within the kidneys, damaged vessels impair filtration, so fluid and waste accumulate, and high blood pressure is one of the most common causes of kidney failure. In the heart, sustained pressure thickens the left ventricular wall, which later stiffens or weakens and produces heart failure. Atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries raises the risk of myocardial infarction. In the brain, the consequences include both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Hypertension is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, and chronic kidney disease.

Outcomes of uncontrolled disease and the effect of control

Across populations, the relationship between pressure and adverse events is close to linear. Reduction of blood pressure is linearly related to reduction of mortality in population studies, although individual benefit varies with other cardiovascular risk factors such as lipid abnormalities, diabetes, smoking, and prior heart disease. A meta-analysis of randomized trials published in 2016 estimated that lowering systolic pressure by 10 mmHg reduced major cardiovascular events by about a fifth, with proportionally larger reductions in stroke and heart failure. These effects are the basis for treatment targets, and population-level control is expected to lower stroke, heart failure, and kidney failure rates over time, although the benefit appears gradually and depends on sustained treatment.

Hypertension and dementia

Hypertension is one of the most important modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline. High blood pressure is one of the top modifiable risk factors for all-cause dementia, especially vascular cognitive impairment. The term vascular cognitive impairment covers cognitive disorders associated with cerebrovascular disease, regardless of the pathogenesis. Hypertension is also linked to Alzheimer disease, and vascular cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease, which often coexist, together account for 85% of dementia cases.

The mechanisms are largely microvascular. Chronic pressure damages the small vessels of the brain, leading to cerebral microhaemorrhages, lacunar infarcts and white matter injury, which are associated with cognitive decline. Hypertension can also disrupt the brain's blood–brain barrier and promote neuroinflammation. The association is strongest for pressure measured in midlife, and evidence suggests the effect may begin earlier in life than was once assumed. Cognitive harm is not limited to stroke: studies indicate that high pressure affects cognition through pathways that operate independently of clinical stroke.

Measurement techniques and diagnosis

Because blood pressure changes from moment to moment, the diagnosis of hypertension depends on how the reading is taken as much as on the number itself. Standard office measurement starts with a rest period of about five minutes, seated, with the back supported, feet on the floor, and the arm supported at heart level. The cuff must fit the arm: an undersized cuff overestimates pressure, and an oversized one underestimates it. Patients should not talk during the reading, and should avoid caffeine, smoking, and exercise shortly beforehand. Guidelines call for at least two readings, taken a minute or more apart, with the average used for decisions. Readings are generally taken on more than one occasion before a diagnosis is made, because a single high value is a weak basis for lifelong treatment.

Manual auscultatory measurement, in which the clinician listens for Korotkoff sounds, has long been the reference method but is prone to observer error and digit preference. Automated office blood pressure (AOBP) devices, which use oscillometry, have largely replaced it in many settings. Their protocols differ in whether a staff member remains in the room. In the SPRINT trial, attended and unattended measurements were taken from different participants, so the two could not be compared directly. Later trials that used the same device on the same people found that standardized unattended AOBP measurements result in slightly lower readings than attended AOBP. A 2025 systematic review reported differences of about 2.7 mmHg for systolic and 0.9 mmHg for diastolic pressure, but reviewers judged that the clinical significance of such small gaps remains uncertain, and they regarded attended AOBP as a reasonable option in real-world practice. Both AOBP approaches tend to give values closer to daytime ambulatory readings than conventional manual office readings do.

Out-of-office monitoring addresses the limits of office measurement. Home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) uses a validated device at home, usually with repeated readings over several days. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) records readings automatically, often every 15 to 30 minutes, over 24 hours. The 2025 guideline notes that out-of-office measurement of BP using ABPM or HBPM can provide valuable information beyond office BP for the confirmation and management of hypertension. These methods reveal two discordant patterns. White-coat hypertension is high office pressure with normal out-of-office pressure; the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline defined it as office readings of at least 130/80 mmHg with daytime out-of-office readings below 130/80 mmHg, while European guidelines use the stricter office cutoff of 140/90 mmHg and a 24-hour mean below 130/80 mmHg. Masked hypertension is the reverse, with a normal office reading but elevated out-of-office pressure. Masked hypertension carries real risk: compared with controlled hypertension, masked uncontrolled hypertension is associated with an increased risk of CVD events and mortality. Depending on the setting, up to one in three patients screened for either pattern may have it, so office readings alone can misclassify a substantial share of people.

The diagnostic workup follows the confirmation of raised pressure. The 2025 AHA/ACC guideline recommends a set of baseline tests for adults diagnosed with hypertension: a complete blood count, serum electrolytes (sodium, potassium, and calcium), serum creatinine with estimated glomerular filtration rate, a lipid profile, glucose or hemoglobin A1c, thyroid-stimulating hormone, urinalysis, and a 12-lead electrocardiogram. A major change from 2017 is that the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio, previously optional, is now recommended for all patients, because albuminuria can reveal kidney injury that serum creatinine misses and it helps to refine both cardiovascular risk and treatment choice. Electrolyte abnormalities can point to secondary causes such as primary aldosteronism, and diagnostic testing for these is discussed elsewhere. Echocardiography is not routine for every patient; it is used when there is suspicion of left ventricular hypertrophy, heart failure, or valve disease. Repeat testing at least yearly monitors drug side effects, kidney function, and cardiovascular risk over time.

Cardiovascular risk estimation

A blood pressure reading alone does not settle whether a person should take medication. Two adults with the same pressure can face very different chances of a cardiac or cerebrovascular event over the next decade. Guidelines therefore pair the measured pressure with an estimate of absolute risk, usually the probability of a major cardiovascular event within ten years. The 2025 guideline also separates the threshold for starting drugs from the target that treatment aims to reach.

The 2017 approach: Pooled Cohort Equations

Under the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline, drug therapy for stage 1 hypertension (130–139/80–89 mmHg) was limited to people with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or a 10-year atherosclerotic risk of at least 10%, calculated with the Pooled Cohort Equations (PCE). The PCE were derived for adults aged 40 to 79 who were not taking statins. Later analyses found that they systematically overestimated risk in contemporary cohorts, and one review reported an overestimate of about twofold. The equations also used race as a predictor, which the successor model was designed to avoid.

The 2025 approach: PREVENT

The 2025 guideline replaces the PCE with the PREVENT equations, which were developed in 2023 and estimate not only atherosclerotic disease but also heart failure. PREVENT uses kidney function, statin use, and a place-based measure of social deprivation as inputs, and it omits race. It applies to adults aged 30 to 79, so it reaches younger people than the PCE did. Because PREVENT is better calibrated, the guideline lowered the risk level that defines high risk from 10% to 7.5%. The authors state that this value was chosen to yield treatment decisions comparable to those under the older model, rather than to widen treatment. The 7.5% cut-off corresponds to a Framingham risk score of 15%, the inclusion criterion of the SPRINT trial.

Thresholds for drug treatment

The 2025 guideline makes a distinction by blood pressure level. Adults whose average pressure is at least 140/90 mmHg should receive lifestyle counseling and medication regardless of predicted risk. For stage 1 hypertension, drug therapy should be considered when there is clinical cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or a PREVENT 10-year risk of 7.5% or more, with the overall clinical context taken into account. Adults with stage 1 hypertension and lower predicted risk are first offered a 3- to 6-month trial of lifestyle change, and medication follows if the average pressure remains at or above 130/80 mmHg.

The practical effect of the change is modest in population terms. A simulation using nationally representative NHANES data from 2017–2020 for adults aged 30 to 79 found that 36.4% were eligible for treatment under the 2017 criteria and 36.6% under the 2025 criteria. The newly eligible group was mostly older women with higher body mass index and borderline glycemic values, but without established cardiovascular disease. Sensitivity analyses in the same work added HbA1c and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio to PREVENT, which shows how much these markers can shift individual estimates.

Target organ damage and risk-enhancing factors

The guideline asks clinicians to base decisions on both blood pressure levels and overall risk, including comorbidities and target organ damage. Target organ damage, such as left ventricular hypertrophy, albuminuria, or reduced glomerular filtration rate, indicates that hypertension has already affected the heart, kidneys, or vessels, so it can justify treatment even when a calculator returns a lower estimate. Risk-enhancing factors, such as a family history of premature cardiovascular disease or an elevated lipoprotein profile, are used in the same way. Because a calculator cannot capture every relevant feature, the final decision rests on clinical judgment and shared decision-making with the patient.

Lifestyle interventions

Lifestyle change is the oldest and least costly way to lower blood pressure, and it is recommended both for prevention and as a first-line measure alongside drugs. The evidence is strongest for dietary pattern and sodium, followed by potassium, exercise and weight loss. The evidence for alcohol and smoking is more indirect and rests mainly on observational and general clinical data.

Dietary pattern: the DASH diet

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) pattern emphasizes fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy while limiting saturated and total fat. A subgroup of the original trial with stage 1 isolated systolic hypertension (72 of 459 participants) allocated people to a control diet, a fruit-and-vegetable diet, or DASH for 8 weeks. Relative to the control diet, the DASH diet significantly lowered systolic pressure by about 11 mm Hg, and the advantage over the fruit-and-vegetable diet was about 8 mm Hg. Similar results appeared in 24-hour ambulatory readings. A pooled analysis of 17 randomized controlled trials involving 2,561 participants estimated a systolic reduction of about 6.7 mm Hg, with larger effects in people who already had hypertension.

These trials have clear limits. The original trial lasted only 11 weeks of feeding, so its long-term efficacy is not established. Adherence in daily life was not evaluated. When DASH was combined with reduced sodium in the DASH-Sodium trial, hypertensive participants on the low-sodium DASH diet had a systolic pressure about 11.5 mm Hg lower than those on a high-sodium control diet, but the combined reduction was smaller than the sum of the two effects taken separately.

Sodium reduction

Sodium is the most studied dietary lever. In DASH-Sodium, the level of dietary sodium had roughly twice as great an effect on blood pressure with the control diet as it did with the DASH diet. Reducing sodium lowered systolic and diastolic pressure in a stepwise fashion, so the response grows as intake falls further. A dose-response meta-analysis in adults with chronic kidney disease found that a daily reduction of 40 mmol of sodium was associated with a predicted systolic fall of 4.5 mm Hg in people with CKD, compared with 2.3 mm Hg in people with hypertension and only 0.3 mm Hg in people without hypertension. Population-level programs show smaller average effects: across 36 studies with 66,803 participants, population-based sodium reduction interventions decreased office systolic pressure compared with usual care, with a mean difference of −2.64 mmHg, with notable heterogeneity between trials. The WHO advises that sodium consumption should be less than 2000 mg (5 g of salt) per day for adults.

Potassium

Potassium acts partly in opposition to sodium, and the evidence has shifted toward it in recent years. The WHO and AHA both recommend a dietary potassium intake exceeding 3.5 g/day (∼90 mmol/day). A dose-response meta-analysis of trials found a U-shaped relationship between changes in potassium excretion and blood pressure, with the lowering effect weakening above about 30 mmol/d of additional excretion, and the effects of potassium supplementation were stronger in people with hypertension and at higher sodium intakes. Potassium-enriched salt substitutes have also been tested directly: a meta-analysis of 13 randomized trials found a net systolic reduction of about 5.6 mm Hg. In the Salt Substitute and Stroke Study, modelling suggested that the majority of the systolic lowering was attributable to the increase in dietary potassium rather than the fall in sodium.

Exercise and weight loss

Aerobic and resistance exercise both lower pressure, with different magnitudes. Earlier meta-analyses concluded that aerobic exercise lowers blood pressure by 5 to 7 mm Hg, whereas dynamic resistance training lowers it by 2 to 3 mm Hg among adults with hypertension. A more recent network meta-analysis of trials of at least two weeks reported systolic reductions of about 4.5 mm Hg for aerobic training, 4.6 mm Hg for dynamic resistance training, and 6.0 mm Hg for combined training, with isometric training ranking highest for systolic effects. Effects were larger in hypertensive groups than in people with normal pressure. Within trials, greater exercise intensity and more resistance sets were associated with larger systolic reductions. Weight loss also lowers pressure; meta-analyses have generally estimated a fall of roughly 1 mm Hg in systolic pressure per kilogram lost, although the figure varies between studies and populations.

Alcohol and smoking

Heavy alcohol intake raises blood pressure, and reducing it lowers readings, particularly in people who drink above moderate levels. The effect is usually a few mm Hg of systolic reduction, and adherence to a lower-alcohol target is often incomplete. Smoking cessation has a different profile: tobacco causes acute pressure rises, but quitting produces little consistent change in resting pressure in most people. Its main benefit is a reduction in cardiovascular risk overall, and weight gain after quitting can partly offset gains in other areas. Relapse rates after quitting are high, so sustained cessation is the central adherence problem.

Why lifestyle comes first and alongside drugs

Lifestyle measures are recommended for prevention because they act on population-level exposures such as salt intake and inactivity, and because they carry little risk. They are also first-line management for many patients, especially those with elevated readings or stage 1 hypertension. Their effects are largely additive to medication. For example, in one diabetes-focused trial, a blood pressure medication typically lowered systolic pressure by about 10 points, and a low-sodium DASH-style diet produced about 5 further points. In people with diabetes, a 5-point reduction in pressure was associated with a 14% lower risk of stroke. Because many patients ultimately need drugs, lifestyle change is usually presented as a complement to pharmacological treatment rather than a substitute for it.

Pharmacological treatment

Drug therapy is usually added when lifestyle measures fail to bring pressure down, or earlier when a patient's absolute cardiovascular risk is high. Five main drug classes are used. Because they act on different hormonal and ion-transport pathways, they are often combined.

Five major drug classes and how they lower pressure

For adults initiating antihypertensive drug therapy, thiazide-type diuretics, long-acting dihydropyridine CCB, and ACEi or ARB are recommended as first-line therapy to prevent CVD. The evidence for this group is strong: high-quality RCTs have demonstrated that these drug classes prevent cardiovascular disease compared with placebo, which is why the same drugs appear as first-line options across most guidelines.

Thiazide and thiazide-like diuretics (such as chlorthalidone and indapamide) act in the distal tubule of the kidney, where they block the sodium–chloride cotransporter. The extra sodium and water excreted reduce plasma volume, and the vascular effect persists with long-term use.

ACE inhibitors block the enzyme that converts angiotensin I into angiotensin II. Less angiotensin II means less vasoconstriction and less aldosterone release. Because the same enzyme also breaks down bradykinin, these drugs can cause a dry cough in some patients.

Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) act one step further along the same pathway, blocking the AT1 receptor that angiotensin II would otherwise activate. They achieve similar pressure reduction with a lower rate of cough, since bradykinin metabolism is not affected.

Dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers (amlodipine, nifedipine and related drugs) inhibit L-type calcium channels in arterial smooth muscle. Reduced calcium entry relaxes the vessel wall and lowers peripheral resistance. Their vascular selectivity means they have comparatively little direct effect on heart rate, and long-acting formulations allow once-daily dosing.

Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (spironolactone, eplerenone) block the receptor through which aldosterone acts on the kidney, promoting sodium excretion while conserving potassium. They are kept mainly for resistant cases: under the 2025 guideline, addition of a MRA is recommended when pressure stays uncontrolled on an ACEi or ARB, a calcium channel blocker and a thiazide-like diuretic at adequate doses.

The place of beta-blockers

Beta-blockers were once a mainstay. They were first recommended as first-line treatment for hypertension in the 1984 Report of the Joint National Committee (JNC III), alongside diuretics. Later trials and meta-analyses weakened that position. Analyses of primary prevention found a relatively weak effect in reducing stroke compared to placebo or no treatment, and in head-to-head comparisons some agents performed worse for cardiovascular outcomes. Their relative inefficiency in lowering central aortic pressure is also cited as a reason for their decline.

Guidelines have diverged on this point. The ESH guidelines continue to include beta-blockers as an optional first-line therapy on the basis of randomized controlled trial evidence, whereas the ACC/AHA guideline does not. Beta-blockers are therefore not on the 2025 AHA/ACC first-line list. They retain clear indications in patients with established coronary heart disease (symptomatic angina, post-MI, or heart failure with reduced ejection fraction), and they are used to control heart rate in some arrhythmias. Labetalol remains one of the preferred first-line agents for hypertension in pregnancy. Trials in which beta-blockers were combined with diuretics also complicate the picture, since the observed benefit may partly reflect the diuretic.

Combination therapy and stepwise escalation

Most patients need more than one drug. Most patients will require two or more antihypertensive drugs to achieve BP control because of the different biological systems involved. Drugs that block different steps of the renin–angiotensin system, or that act on volume and vascular tone, work in complementary ways, and combining them often produces a larger effect than doubling the dose of one agent.

The 2025 guideline distinguishes by severity. For patients with stage 1 hypertension, initial therapy with a single first-line antihypertensive is reasonable, with dosage titration and sequential addition of other agents as needed to achieve BP goal. For stage 2 hypertension, initiation of antihypertensive drug therapy with 2 first-line agents of different classes, ideally in a single-pill combination (SPC), is recommended to improve BP control and adherence.

Single-pill combinations address adherence problems directly. Earlier guidance noted that improved adherence can be achieved with once-daily drug dosing, rather than multiple dosing, and with combination therapy rather than administration of the free individual components. In a US cost-effectiveness analysis, initial SPC dual therapy was projected to yield 0.028 more QALYs at no greater cost than usual care monotherapy over 10 years. Triple and low-dose quadruple combinations have also been tested in randomized trials, with better control in the combination group (70% compared to 55%) in one 2018 Sri Lankan study, although the trials of multi-drug initial therapy are still limited in size and follow-up.

Special populations

Pregnancy

Hypertension in pregnancy is divided into chronic hypertension, which predates pregnancy or is diagnosed before 20 weeks, and gestational hypertension, which appears later. Chronic hypertension carries a high risk of preeclampsia, a multiorgan inflammatory syndrome thought to arise from abnormal placental development, with placental ischemia and oxidative stress. The 2025 AHA/ACC guideline names labetalol or extended-release nifedipine, taken once daily, as the preferred antihypertensive agents. No specific agent is preferred over the other, although once-daily nifedipine may improve adherence. Methyldopa was removed from the preferred list in this update. Atenolol, nitroprusside, and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists were added to the drugs that should not be used. Drugs that interrupt the renin–angiotensin system, including ACE inhibitors and ARBs, are likewise avoided because of fetal risk.

Low-dose aspirin is used for prevention. In a meta-analysis, daily low-dose aspirin started after 12 weeks' gestation significantly reduced preeclampsia risk in individuals at moderate or high risk compared with placebo. It is recommended only for people with no prior aspirin-related adverse event or allergy. For chronic hypertension, the CHAP trial supported a goal below 140/90 mmHg, which improved maternal and fetal outcomes without compromising fetal growth. For severe-range readings, treatment should begin promptly at 160/110 mmHg or higher, with medication given within about 30 to 60 minutes.

Chronic kidney disease

Hypertension and chronic kidney disease (CKD) accelerate each other, and the management of one shapes the other. For adults with hypertension and CKD, defined by an eGFR below 60 mL/min/1.73 m² or albuminuria of 30 mg/g or more, the 2025 guideline gives a class 1 recommendation for a renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system inhibitor, either an ACE inhibitor or an ARB but not both. The systolic target in CKD is below 130 mm Hg. Dual blockade is avoided, and KDIGO advises avoiding any combination of ACE inhibitor, ARB, and direct renin inhibitor in people with CKD.

Monitoring is central to this treatment. Clinicians check blood pressure, serum creatinine, and potassium within 2–4 weeks of starting or raising the dose of an ACE inhibitor or ARB. Treatment is generally continued unless creatinine rises by more than 30%. A transient creatinine rise of this size is not, by itself, a reason to stop the drug. Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) should be assessed at least yearly, and especially after albuminuria is found or after the drug is titrated to the highest tolerated dose.

Diabetes

In adults with diabetes and hypertension, an ACEi or ARB is recommended in the presence of CKD, and should be considered when mild albuminuria is present, to delay progression of diabetic kidney disease. Diabetic nephropathy is a leading cause of end-stage kidney disease, which gives blood pressure control a direct role in kidney protection. The ADA Standards of Care 2025 recommend a blood pressure target below 130/80 mmHg. The evidence base includes a large trial of 12,821 people with type 2 diabetes, in which intensive blood pressure lowering reduced major cardiovascular events with a similar incidence of serious adverse events compared with standard treatment.

Blood pressure drugs and glucose-lowering drugs interact in several ways. Intensive lowering combined with insulin or sulfonylureas can increase hypoglycaemia risk, and beta-blockers may blunt its warning symptoms. Combining an ACE inhibitor or ARB with a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist raises the risk of hyperkalaemia, which needs potassium monitoring. Some glucose-lowering agents, such as SGLT2 inhibitors, also modestly lower blood pressure, which should be taken into account when titrating doses.

Older and frail adults

Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is a central concern in older people. It is defined as a sustained drop of at least 20 mmHg in systolic or 10 mmHg in diastolic pressure within 3 minutes of standing. It may be asymptomatic or cause dizziness and syncope. With age, baroreflex sensitivity declines, reducing the ability to lower blood pressure on lying down. Observational studies have linked OH to falls, but intensive treatment does not appear to worsen this association. A review in The Lancet Regional Health concluded that a perceived risk of OH should not be a reason to withhold or deprescribe treatment in older patients. Standing measurements should therefore be taken, especially in people with dizziness or a history of falls.

Deprescribing is considered in specific situations. Guidance suggests it may be appropriate for people over 80 without cardiovascular disease who are frail, have cognitive impairment, have a high risk of falls or syncope, or have a life-limiting illness. The 2023 ESH guideline allows reduction in those aged 80 or over with systolic pressure below 120 mmHg, severe OH, or high frailty. Medications should be withdrawn one at a time, with about 4-week intervals between steps. Alpha-blockers and centrally acting agents carry a particular risk of postural hypotension and falls. Individualized goals are important: for frail adults with limited life expectancy, one consensus tool recommends a systolic target of 130–160 mmHg.

Polypharmacy, sedating drugs, and cognitive or sensory limitations all increase the risk of harm, so simplified regimens such as single-pill combinations and assisted dosing are often helpful. In children and adolescents, diagnosis depends on age-specific percentiles and standardized measurement with correctly sized cuffs, and it requires confirmation on repeat readings.

Resistant hypertension and interventional options

Definition and prevalence

Resistant hypertension is diagnosed when pressure stays above goal even though the patient takes three antihypertensive drugs from different classes, one of them a diuretic, at optimal or maximally tolerated doses (Resistant hypertension (RH) is defined as blood pressure above a goal despite adherence to at least 3 optimally dosed antihypertensive medications of different classes, one of which is a diuretic.). A second category covers patients whose pressure is controlled only when four or more drugs are needed Patients whose blood pressure is controlled with four or more antihypertensive medications are also classed as Resistant hypertension.. The condition is common among treated patients, affecting 12–18 % of treated hypertensive patients.

Apparent (pseudo-)resistance

Before accepting the diagnosis, clinicians must exclude pseudoresistance, meaning apparently uncontrolled pressure caused by medication nonadherence, white-coat effect, or poor measurement technique. Technique errors include an inappropriate cuff and readings taken without sufficient rest or immediately after smoking (Suboptimal blood pressure measurement techniques (using inappropriate BP cuff, taking BP without sufficient prior rest or immediately after smoking).). Calcified, noncompressible brachial arteries can also produce falsely high cuff readings Noncompressible calcified brachial artery (Osler's pseudohypertension)..

The white-coat effect is a major contributor. Estimates for patients with resistant hypertension range from 28% to 39%. In one study of 611 patients, nearly 40% of those taking 1 or 2 medications and almost 30% of those taking 3 medications had controlled BP on ambulatory BP monitoring. Adherence is assessed first, and out-of-office monitoring is then used to confirm the diagnosis. Genuine drivers include obesity, heavy alcohol intake, and interfering substances, and discontinuation or dose reduction of substances with potential to increase BP is indicated; these may include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), stimulants, oral contraceptives, or certain antidepressants. The 2025 AHA/ACC guideline strengthens this step, recommending that a more detailed evaluation for secondary causes, to include careful review of all medications and removal of those with interfering effects on BP, is beneficial for lowering BP and simplifying treatment.

Primary aldosteronism screening

Primary aldosteronism is one of the most frequent secondary causes of resistant pressure, and the 2025 guideline widened screening accordingly. Screening for primary aldosteronism is expanded to all patients with stage 2 or resistant hypertension, addressing underdiagnosis of this secondary cause. The guideline also states that screening applies regardless of whether hypokalemia is present, because primary aldosteronism can exist in the absence of hypokalemia.

Initial testing measures plasma aldosterone, renin activity, and the plasma aldosterone:renin activity ratio. Most antihypertensives can remain in place during testing; the exception is mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, which are stopped first it is recommended to continue most antihypertensive medications (other than mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists [MRA]) prior to initial screening to minimize barriers to or delays in screening.. Positive results are referred to a specialist for confirmation and treatment referral to a hypertension specialist or endocrinologist is recommended for further evaluation and treatment.. Identifying the cause matters because it changes the treatment target: a confirmed aldosterone-driven form responds to a drug that blocks the hormone's action rather than to standard add-on agents.

Catheter-based renal denervation

Renal denervation (RDN) uses a catheter inserted into the renal arteries to interrupt overactive nerves around the kidneys, which can drive persistent high blood pressure. In the United States, FDA approval and the commercial launch of Medtronic's Symplicity Spyral radiofrequency RDN system and Recor Medical's Paradise ultrasound RDN system for treating hypertension were announced in November 2023.

Guideline status changed with the 2025 update. The 2017 guideline focused on medication optimization, while the 2025 guideline gives RDN a Class IIb adjunctive option for select patients. The recommendation is restricted: it covers patients with office systolic pressure of 140–180 mm Hg, office diastolic pressure of at least 90 mm Hg, and an eGFR of at least 40 mL/min/1.73 m², who remain uncontrolled despite optimal treatment or cannot tolerate additional drugs (In carefully selected patients with systolic and diastolic hypertension (office SBP 140 to 180 mm Hg and DBP ≥90 mm Hg) and eGFR ≥40 mL/min/1.73 m^2 who have resistant hypertension despite optimal treatment.... Candidates are assessed by a multidisciplinary team, and the benefits of lowering BP and potential procedural risks compared with continuing medical therapy should be discussed as part of a shared decision-making process. Pregnancy and significant renal artery stenosis are among the contraindications.

Evidence comes largely from sham-controlled trials. Recent studies such as SPYRAL HTN-ON/OFF MED and RADIANCE-HTN TRIO showed moderate but significant efficacy of RDN, with systolic blood pressure reductions ranging from 3.9 to 18.7 mmHg depending on populations. Newer multi-electrode catheters and distal branch targeting are intended to improve results Technological advances (multi-electrode catheters, distal branch targeting) improve outcomes.. Open questions include how durable the blood pressure reduction is over longer follow-up, which patients respond best, and how the Class IIb rating will change as more long-term data accumulate.

Hypertensive crises and acute management

Severely raised blood pressure is grouped by whether it is already injuring organs. A hypertensive emergency involves severely high pressure accompanied by evidence of progressive organ or system damage, whereas urgency has no such evidence. The major feature distinguishing a true hypertensive emergency from a hypertensive urgency is the presence of ongoing acute target organ damage, not the degree of BP elevation itself. Thresholds vary by guideline; some place urgency at or above 180/120 mmHg without end-organ damage. Organs typically assessed are the heart, retina, brain, kidneys, and large arteries. Emergencies include acute coronary or cerebral ischemia, pulmonary edema, renal failure, aortic dissection, or eclampsia.

The label "urgency" has drawn criticism. A 2025 AHA recommendation proposed the term "Severe Hypertension" to replace "Hypertensive Urgency". An AHA scientific statement on inpatient care argues that such emotive terms may encourage unnecessary antihypertensive treatment, and that the decision to treat asymptomatic elevations deserves individual risk–benefit assessment.

Patients with urgency are generally managed differently from those with emergency. Such patients should be treated as outpatients with oral medications to achieve BP control over several days. By contrast, emergencies require hospital-level care. Untreated, this condition carries a very high mortality, and patients should be promptly treated with intravenous medication in an intensive care unit or a monitored bed. The aim is not to normalize readings quickly. The overall treatment goal for hypertensive emergency is to prevent irreversible end-organ damage. It is not to normalize BP. Accordingly, the type of organ injury guides the choice of drug, the target pressure, and the time frame. The type of acute organ damage is the principal determinant of: (i) the drug of choice, (ii) the target BP, and (iii) the timeframe in which BP should be lowered.

Reduction is therefore stepwise. A commonly cited schedule is a maximum reduction in mean arterial pressure of 20% to 25% in the first hour of treatment, and a blood pressure of 160/100 mm Hg by 2 to 6 hours. Normalization follows over the next day or two. Parenteral drugs come first, and oral therapy is introduced later: when BP has been stabilized for 24 hours, parenteral antihypertensive medications can be gradually changed over to oral medications. Drug choice depends on the syndrome. In aortic dissection, a more tightly limited target is used, and guidance suggests lowering systolic pressure within 20 minutes to a systolic blood pressure below 120 mm Hg, typically with beta blockers to reduce shear stress on the dissection and a vasodilator. Infusions are titrated to effect; for example, nicardipine is usually started at 5 mg/hr. If Bp is above target, increase by 2.5 mg/hr every 5-15 min, to a maximum rate of 15 mg/hour.

In pregnancy, severe-range readings are treated as an obstetric emergency. Guidance defines this as blood pressure greater than 160/110 mm Hg and persistent for 15 minutes, and advises that first-line treatment begin as soon as possible within 30–60 minutes of confirmed severe hypertension to reduce the risk of maternal stroke. Intravenous labetalol and intravenous hydralazine have long been used as first-line agents, but immediate-release oral nifedipine is increasingly accepted. One meta-analysis found that participants receiving IR nifedipine reached the target BP more expeditiously than those given IV labetalol, and a 2025 review concluded that IR nifedipine is at least as efficacious as IV labetalol and IV hydralazine. These agents are used in acute settings; longer-term antenatal and postpartum regimens are covered elsewhere.

Lowering pressure too fast carries its own hazards. Cerebral vessels in chronically hypertensive patients adapt to higher pressures, so an abrupt drop can deprive the brain of perfusion. Vascular beds supplying the brain become habituated to higher blood pressures and acute drop can cause hypoperfusion and ischemic injury. The same logic applies to the kidneys, where excessive reduction can reduce glomerular perfusion and worsen renal function, and to the heart, where coronary perfusion may fall. For this reason, emergency care balances the need to halt organ injury against the risk of creating new ischemia, and it relies on frequent reassessment of neurological, cardiac, and renal status throughout treatment.

Discovery and history of measurement and treatment

Early experimental measurement

Arterial pressure was first measured directly in 1733, when the English clergyman Stephen Hales inserted a brass pipe into the femoral artery of an unanaesthetised horse and joined it to a long vertical glass tube. The blood rose about eight feet (roughly 2.5 m) above the level of the heart, showing that the circulation was under measurable pressure. Hales's method killed the animals and could not be used in people, so it remained a physiological curiosity for more than a century. The mercury manometer, which replaced the long water-like column of blood with a far shorter column of mercury, made pressure readings practical. The first clinical reading with a mercury manometer was reported in 1856, when the surgeon Faivre connected an artery to the device during an operation.

The sphygmomanometer and auscultation

Before the 1890s, non-invasive assessment depended on palpating the pulse, which gave only rough impressions. In 1881 Samuel von Basch produced an early device with a water-filled rubber bulb pressed against the artery and a mercury column to read the pressure needed to obliterate the pulse. The decisive step came in 1896, when the Italian physician Scipione Riva-Rocci described a mercury sphygmomanometer with an inflatable arm cuff. He read the pressure at which the radial pulse disappeared under palpation, which gave the systolic value. Riva-Rocci published a series of four articles in Italian on the method in 1896 and 1897, and his cuff design became the standard form of the device. The American neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing visited him in 1911 and became an early adopter.

The second advance came in 1905, when the Russian military surgeon Nikolai Korotkoff described listening with a stethoscope to the sounds produced in the artery just below the cuff as the pressure was slowly released. The first audible sound was taken as systolic pressure and the disappearance of the sounds as diastolic pressure. This auscultatory method gave a reliable diastolic reading, which the palpation technique could not provide. Later laboratory and clinical work confirmed its accuracy, and it became the reference method in clinical practice, although automated oscillometric devices have since largely replaced the manual technique in routine use.

Recognition of hypertension as a disease

Elevated pressure was recognised clinically well before it was measured reliably. Thomas Young described the condition in 1808, and Richard Bright in 1836 linked raised pressure to kidney disease. Samuel Wilks noted that enlarged hearts and diseased arteries did not always accompany kidney damage, and in 1874 Frederick Akbar Mahomed reported raised pressure in a patient without kidney disease. Clifford Allbutt later framed hypertension as a generalised disorder of the circulation and proposed the term "hyperpiesia". Hypertension became a distinct medical entity in practice only after the cuff made routine measurement possible in the late 1890s.

The link between pressure, stroke, and heart disease was established through population research. The Framingham Heart Study, which began in 1948 in Framingham, Massachusetts, followed a cohort of residents over decades. Its analyses identified high blood pressure as an independent predictor of stroke and coronary heart disease, and the study helped establish the modern idea of cardiovascular risk factors that can be measured and modified.

The first effective drugs and their expansion

Before the 1950s, the few drugs used to lower pressure were poorly tolerated and difficult to dose. Thiazide diuretics changed this. Chlorothiazide emerged from research on carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, where chemists at Merck noticed an unexpected increase in chloride excretion, and it was launched in 1958 under the trade name Diuril. Hydrochlorothiazide followed soon after, and the thiazide-like agent chlorthalidone was introduced a few years later. A 1967 study of Veterans Administration patients showed that thiazide treatment reduced cardiovascular events, and the thiazides remain first-line agents today. The discoverers were honoured by a Lasker Foundation public health award in 1975.

From the 1960s, the range of options widened. Methyldopa and beta-blockers such as propranolol, the latter introduced in the mid-1960s, added new mechanisms, though beta-blockers were later displaced from first-line use in uncomplicated cases. Later decades brought ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, and calcium channel blockers, which are described in the pharmacological treatment section.

Global burden and epidemiology

Hypertension is one of the most widespread chronic conditions in the world. The WHO's 2025 fact sheet estimates that about 1.4 billion adults aged 30–79 years worldwide had hypertension in 2024, or 33% of that age range. The WHO's second Global Report on Hypertension uses the same figure and states that fewer than one in five of those affected had the condition adequately controlled. Published prevalence figures differ somewhat by year, age range and dataset. For example, the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration's pooled analysis of 1990–2019 data counted 1.28 billion adults aged 30–79 in 2019.

The care cascade explains where the gap lies. Of the 1.4 billion people, an estimated 600 million adults (44%) are unaware that they have the condition. About 630 million adults with hypertension (44%) are diagnosed and treated, while approximately 320 million (23%) have it under control. The cascade is sequential: people must first be aware of their diagnosis to be eligible for recommended treatments and must then be treated to achieve control. Losses at each step compound. Smaller studies show the same pattern. In a rural Delhi sample, 61.2% of hypertensive individuals were aware of their condition, 44.8% were receiving treatment, and only 14.6% had controlled blood pressure. In a US analysis of adults with uncontrolled hypertension, more than 50% were unaware of their hypertension and were untreated, and 70.8% of those who were treated had hypertension that remained uncontrolled.

Prevalence varies by region. The WHO reports that the Eastern Mediterranean Region has the highest prevalence of hypertension (38%) while the Western Pacific Region has the lowest prevalence of hypertension (29%). Age-standardized analyses find a different geographic pattern in some places. In 2019, age-standardised hypertension prevalence was lowest in Canada and Peru for both men and women, and several low- and middle-income countries had among the lowest rates for men.

The burden has shifted toward low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). From 2000 to 2010, in high-income countries hypertension prevalence decreased whereas awareness, treatment, and control improved, while in low- and middle-income countries prevalence increased, with minimal improvement in rates of hypertension awareness, treatment, and control. Since 1990, the number of affected adults has risen from 650 million to 1.4 billion, and two-thirds of adults aged 30–79 years who have hypertension live in low- and middle-income countries. Treatment and control have improved in most countries since 1990, but little change in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania. The largest gains occurred in high-income countries, central Europe, and some upper-middle-income and recently high-income countries including Costa Rica, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Turkey, and Iran.

Population change is a central driver of the rising count. The 2021 pooled analysis found that the overall number of adults with hypertension has doubled, but this is primarily down to population growth and ageing, and the percentage of people who have hypertension has changed little since 1990. The WHO similarly attributes the increase mainly to a rise in the number of older adults in those countries. Because prevalence climbs steeply with age, projections of future burden depend heavily on demographic forecasts as well as on age-specific rates. Current modelling expects the absolute number of deaths and disability-adjusted life years from high blood pressure to keep rising over the next two decades, mainly driven by middle-income countries, and due to both population growth and aging, as well as an increase in hypertension risk factors.

Public health policy and control programs

The HEARTS technical package

The World Health Organization's HEARTS technical package is the main framework for scaling up hypertension control in primary care, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Its components are healthy-lifestyle counseling, evidence-based treatment protocols, access to essential medicines, risk-based cardiovascular management, team-based care, and systems for monitoring. The treatment protocols name specific drugs and doses and set a schedule for stepping up therapy until pressure is controlled. Team-based care lets nurses and other non-physician workers handle routine follow-up, and a patient-level information system tracks readings and missed visits. Global HEARTS began in 2017, when WHO and Resolve to Save Lives worked with national governments to deploy the package in 32 LMICs. By December 2022, 12.2 million patients had been treated through the program. In a quasi-experimental trial in rural Bangladesh, HEARTS clinics produced a net systolic reduction of 3.7 mm Hg against usual care at six months, and 62.0% of the intervention arm reached control, defined as below 140/90 mm Hg.

Barriers to control

Medicine availability is the most consistent bottleneck. The 2025 WHO Global Report on Hypertension found that only 28% of low-income countries report that all WHO-recommended antihypertensive medicines are generally available in pharmacies or primary care facilities. Stockouts, cost to patients, and weak procurement all limit whether a prescription is ever filled and continued. The report counted 99 countries with national control rates below 20%. Kerala, India, illustrates that awareness and treatment coverage do not guarantee control. Kerala had the highest awareness and treatment coverage among the districts in one national surveillance study, yet a 2025 mixed-methods study in the state found a control rate of about 23%, with poor access, medicine shortages, and misconceptions among the barriers identified. Economic costs compound the problem: cardiovascular disease was projected to cost LMICs about US$3.7 trillion between 2011 and 2025, roughly 2% of their combined gross domestic product.

Population-level measures

Population-wide measures complement clinical programs. These include reducing salt intake through national targets, reformulating processed foods to contain less sodium, and using tobacco and alcohol taxation and marketing controls. WHO classes several of these as cost-effective "best buys" for noncommunicable diseases, and they act on hypertension across an entire population rather than only on people already in care. Global targets reflect this breadth. One goal is to cut the prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension by 25% between 2010 and 2025, and a 2025 political declaration aimed at bringing 150 million more people with hypertension under control by 2030. WHO officials have argued that control rates near 50% could prevent millions of heart attacks and strokes each year.

National examples

Several countries show what coordinated policy can achieve. South Korea combined low-cost antihypertensive medicines with limits on patient fees, and reported national control of 59% in 2022. Canada, Costa Rica, and Iceland are among the only four countries with national control rates above 50% in the 2025 report. Bangladesh raised facility-level control from 18% in 2020 to 58% in 2025 by embedding hypertension services within its essential health package. The Philippines reported 65% facility-level control in a demonstration project that used HEARTS in primary care. These figures measure different things: facility-level results come from participating clinics and are not directly comparable with national population estimates. WHO has urged countries to build hypertension control into universal health coverage reforms, since the common pattern in high-performing systems is cheap, reliably supplied medicines combined with routine, low-cost primary care.

Clinical guidelines and their evolution

The 2017 ACC/AHA guideline, issued with nine other professional bodies, reclassified blood pressure in the United States. It eliminated the "prehypertension" category and set stage 1 hypertension at 130/80 mm Hg or higher. The former 140/90 mm Hg boundary became the stage 2 threshold. Under the new definition, 46% of US adults have hypertension. The lower treatment target rested largely on randomized trial evidence from SPRINT, in which intensive systolic lowering to below 120 mm Hg reduced primary cardiovascular events by about 25% compared with a target below 140 mm Hg. Critics argued that evidence for the sub-130/80 target in people with diabetes was unconvincing, because ACCORD was half the size of SPRINT and was underpowered. Others objected that the lower stage 1 label captured many low-risk people with no clear benefit from drug treatment. Lower targets in the new guideline received criticism for labelling people at low risk as hypertensive.

The 2025 multisociety AHA/ACC guideline replaced the 2017 document, incorporating updated recommendations based on the latest clinical evidence through early 2025. It kept the four BP categories and the 130/80 mm Hg diagnostic threshold. Its most consequential change concerns who receives drugs. The most noticeable difference is the change from the Pooled Cohort Equation to the PREVENT Equation for assessing 10-year cardiovascular risk. In a sample of 3.3 million US adults, PCEs overpredicted risk by 2-fold while PREVENT had excellent calibration, even when examined by race and ethnic group. PREVENT also incorporates renal function, statin use, and social drivers of health. Drug therapy is recommended for all adults with average blood pressure ≥140/90 mm Hg and/or for selected adults with average blood pressure ≥130/80 mm Hg who have clinical cardiovascular disease, previous stroke, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or increased 10-year predicted cardiovascular risk of ≥7.5%. For lower-risk adults, the guideline advises starting medication if 3 to 6 months of lifestyle changes fail to lower BP below 130/80 mm Hg. Other revisions include screening for primary aldosteronism expanded to all patients with stage 2 or resistant hypertension, renal denervation as an adjunctive option for select patients with resistant hypertension, and pregnancy guidance that emphasizes BP control and low-dose aspirin.

The European position differs in structure. The 2023 ESH guideline changed relatively little from the 2018 joint ESC/ESH document, and is more concordant with the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline in several key respects. ESH keeps 140/90 mm Hg as the definition of hypertension and labels readings of 130–139 systolic or 85–89 diastolic as "high-normal" rather than stage 1. For adults between ages 18 and 64 years, the ESH guideline recommends a BP target <130/80 mm Hg, similar to what is recommended by the ACC/AHA guideline. For adults aged 65 to 79 years, ESH recommends targeting BP <140/80 mm Hg, but notes that if tolerated by the patient, a target of <130/80 mm Hg should be used.

The 2024 ESC guideline, which updates the 2018 ESC/ESH document, maintains the traditional definition of hypertension (≥140/90 mm Hg) but adds an elevated category of 120–139/70–89 mm Hg. It sets a systolic BP treatment target range of 120-129 mmHg for most patients on BP-lowering medication, provided the treatment is well tolerated. For frail or very old patients, the guidelines recommend aiming for a systolic BP 'as low as reasonably achievable'. Treatment decisions remain risk-based: for adults with low-to-moderate cardiovascular risk (a 10-year risk of <10%), the guidelines recommend initiating lifestyle modifications for elevated BP, reserving medication only for those whose BP remains above 140/90 mm Hg. In contrast, for high-risk individuals, treatment is recommended once BP exceeds 130/80 mmHg. Where the guidelines converge is the emphasis on systolic values below 130 mm Hg for most treated patients. They diverge on the definition of hypertension, the timing of drug therapy in low-risk adults, and the treatment of older people, where the ESC retains a more conservative stance even though the STEP trial favoured intensive control.

Guidelines are revised when new trials, systematic reviews and risk tools accumulate, and writing committees weigh the evidence and expert opinion to produce recommendations. The 2017 document incorporated evidence from randomized controlled trials, including SPRINT, systematic reviews, and expert opinion. Regional differences persist for several reasons. Committees can weigh the same trials differently, as the SPRINT and ACCORD debate shows. Risk equations differ, and a change of tool, as with PREVENT, can shift which patients qualify for drugs. Measurement practice also varies: the 2017 guidelines did not specify whether the office-based measurement is manual or automated. Since routine office BP measurements tend to be around 5 mmHg higher than automated office BP measurements, thresholds derived under one method do not transfer cleanly to another. Health-system capacity and drug costs, which shape what is feasible in practice, further separate national and regional recommendations.

Open questions and ongoing debates

Intensive systolic targets

Most of the case for lower targets rests on the SPRINT trial. It randomized 9,361 participants at increased cardiovascular risk to intensive or standard treatment, and the intensive arm had about a quarter fewer cardiovascular events than the standard arm (targeting SBP <120 mm Hg versus <140 reduced cardiovascular events 25%). Because SPRINT excluded people with diabetes (adults without diabetes), its findings do not transfer directly to that group. In ACCORD, a trial in people with diabetes, intensive lowering gave no significant gain in the primary outcome and more serious adverse events with intensive therapy.

The size and source of SPRINT's benefit are also disputed. One line of argument held that the benefit was driven by a reduction of heart failure events, and a later reanalysis tested whether the benefit persisted once heart failure events were removed from the primary composite endpoint.

Harms are the other side of the debate. In the SPRINT subgroup with coronary artery disease, intensive treatment roughly doubled the hazard of hypotension and more than doubled that of electrolyte abnormalities, although the risk of serious adverse events did not increase. Potential risks in general include hypotension, electrolyte disturbances, and acute kidney injury. The trial protocol that achieved these results started most participants on at least two drugs and used monthly visits to adjust treatment, and a high proportion of a diverse, older, hypertensive population reached the intensive goal. Routine practice is less intensive than that protocol, and the 2025 AHA/ACC guideline keeps a goal of systolic BP < 130 mmHg, with encouragement toward <120 mmHg in selected patients. For older or frail adults, guidance generally favors individualized blood pressure targets, weighing orthostatic symptoms, falls, and kidney effects against the expected cardiovascular benefit.

Reliability of measurement and the cost of monitoring

Diagnosis depends on how blood pressure is measured. Office readings can be inflated by the clinical setting. Estimates cited in one review suggest that 13% of individuals have masked hypertension and 13% of diagnoses based on office blood pressure measurements are in fact white coat hypertension. Misclassification in either direction leads to unnecessary treatment or missed disease, which is why some authors argue that more sensitive and specific blood pressure measuring methods could avoid costs associated with misdiagnosis.

Whether routine 24-hour monitoring pays for itself is less settled. Earlier modeling studies found that ambulatory monitoring as a secondary screening step could lower treatment costs, with a potential savings of 3% to 14% for cost of care in one reanalysis. A 2018 US model found that ABPM was the dominant strategy in all adult men and women <80 years of age, while clinic measurement remained the most cost-effective option for some older adults. A review of the evidence concluded that further evidence of reproducibility is needed in research that is not based mainly on analytical models, which is the central limitation of this literature.

Low-risk adults with elevated readings

The most contested question concerns adults with stage 1 readings and low estimated risk. The 2025 AHA/ACC guideline differs from European practice here: the 2025 ACC/AHA guideline has introduced a new class 1 guidance, recommending initiation of BP-lowering medications for low CVD risk adults whose BP remains ≥130/80 mm Hg after 3–6 months of lifestyle changes, whereas the 2024 ESC guideline recommends lifestyle measures alone for this group. Critics question whether this shift is justified. Using the PREVENT tool, about 21 million US adults, or 11% of the US adult population, would be classed as low risk, and the expected yield of lifestyle change is modest, with approximately one-fifth reaching <130/80 mm Hg. The debate therefore centers on the balance between the benefits of earlier drug therapy, the burden and cost of treating large numbers of people with limited absolute risk, and the value of structured lifestyle programs that may be effective in the long term.

Pediatric screening, renal denervation, and digital tools

Several questions remain open beyond the adult evidence. Pediatric screening is limited by the need for age- and sex-specific reference values and by uncertainty about whether finding high readings in children improves later outcomes. Catheter-based renal denervation, which is included as an option in recent guidance for selected patients, still has limited long-term outcome data, and its benefit relative to drugs and to sham procedures continues to be studied. Digital health tools and artificial intelligence could support home monitoring, data-driven dosing, and adherence reminders, but their use raises questions about device validation, data privacy, equitable access, and whether improved measurement or engagement actually translates into fewer strokes and heart attacks.

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