Many things can cause high blood pressure, including some medications, frequent alcohol intake, smoking, excessive salt intake, obesity , pregnancy , and many diseases. In some cases, high blood pressure can be treated by lifestyle changes. In others, medications may be necessary. Stress is a common cause and exacerbator of high blood pressure. 1 Avoiding stressful situations may help lower blood pressure.
Regular exercise can lower high blood pressure.
2 Other healthful lifestyle changes include weight loss 3 and stopping smoking. 4 Several dietary changes may also help combat high blood pressure. In many cases, hypertension is caused by excessive salt intake. 5 Elimination of salt usually leads to lower blood pressure. In some people, however, complete elimination of salt actually causes an increase of blood pressure.