Which Sex is More Prone to High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is not directly related to a person's sex, however due to one reason or another, it is found to be more common in men than women. However, it is seen that on average, men develop high blood pressure in their early ages such as from 20’s to 40’s while in women, hypertension develops after crossing their 30’s and 40’s.

There are several reasons and causes behind this difference. Let us have a look at various reasons as to why high blood pressure develops in men and women and which sex is more prone to it.

Hypertension in Men

Men are at risk or high blood pressure due to stressful conditions at work, inactive life or lack of physical activity in life which causes high blood pressure or other diseases which can cause hypertension.

Also, due to increased intake o alcohol and smoking, men can develop hypertension or high blood pressure. This, combined with unhealthy eating habits can cause high blood pressure. Eating fatty and junk food can lead to blockage of the arteries and thus make the heart pump harder which in turn can cause hypertension.

Hypertension in Women

On the contrary, women may be more prone to hypertension during pregnancy or when taking oral contraceptives. Women are at risk of high blood pressure as they grow old and they should be on their guard after crossing their 40’s. Also, some women who have never had high blood pressure can suddenly develop it during pregnancy. Similarly, women taking oral contraceptives are more likely to develop high blood pressure if they are overweight, have a family history of high blood pressure or have mild kidney disease.

The studies also show that menopause is responsible for the first appearance of a high blood pressure in women, independent of the other physiological variations. As women grow older, their risk for heart disease especially increases after menopause. In fact after menopause a woman’s risk for developing hypertension or heart disease, increases rather dramatically. This is because after menopause women produce less estrogen. Estrogen protects women from heart problems earlier in life.

It is not known why men are more prone to high blood pressure. Many think it is because of lifestyle choices. Men are more inclined to drink alcohol excessively, consuming larger amounts of fatty foods and in general less likely to look after their health due to which they suffer from high blood pressure in an early age. On the contrary, women take care of their health but due to hormonal changes and other problems they may develop high blood pressure.