Then too your vascular plumbing becomes harder with age. Blood vessels are less resilient so they don't stretch with the heart's output. Firstly and most dangerous, is the occurrence of strokes. Hypertension also causes the heart pump to fail and fluid accumulates in the body. High blood pressure contributes to the occurrence of heart attacks.
Treatment comes in two forms, lifestyle changes and prescription medication.
Alcohol and salt should be restricted. There should also be no smoking and saturated fat should be decreased to lower the risk of complicating heart attack or stroke. If these changes in lifestyle do not reduce diastolic pressure below 90 or the systolic below 160, then certain medicines should be added. Medicine only helps if a person takes it. Blood pressure medicine has to be taken for the rest of the patient's life.