If we look at the issue scientifically, hypertension or high blood pressure is not in itself an illness.
Blood pressure fluctuates ordinarily for short periods each day.
But if it stays up it's a major risk for heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease. High blood pressure is all the more insidious because it's a silent killer, it produces no overt symptoms, at least when it is in the initial moderate stages. Current estimates are that 40 percent of the adult population may suffer from high blood pressure. At least half that number may be undiagnosed and untreated. The first number refers to systolic blood pressure.