There are two basic forms of hypertension. One is the essential and the other, the malignant form. Essential hypertension is the more common form and the one we will be discussing. When left untreated the essential hypertension can to the malignant form, which causes serious damage to the kidney, but may not be confined to the kidneys' alone.
Causative factors can be heredity, neurogenic, vascular, nutritional or environmental.
The resistance to the flow of blood causes the heart to enlarge in order to compensate for the need to pump a larger amount of blood in order to accommodate the needs of the body. Primary hypertension can be a silent killer. An untreated hypertensive patient is greatly at risk for stroke, kidney, coronary and vascular disease. Changes will also occur in the retina of the eye, and the degree of severity is related to the amount of elevation of the pressure and the length of time the pressure has been elevated. As you can see, because primary hypertension is such an insidious killer, making the diagnosis is the most important factor in combating this disease.