You are more likely to get high blood pressure if it runs in your family, but that doesn't mean you will get it. Your chance of getting high blood pressure is also greater if you are African-American. It is not inevitable that you will develop high blood pressure as you age. Stress does make blood pressure go up, but only temporarily. Ups and downs in blood pressure are normal.
Blood pressure is the force of blood against the walls of arteries.
Blood pressure becomes dangerous when it's always high. When your weight increases, your blood pressure increases. It is important to stay at a healthy weight. About 15 percent of people between the age of 18-39 are among the 50 million Americans with high blood pressure. And, once you have high blood pressure, you have it for the rest of your life.