# Hypertension (high blood pressure) Condition · id `core:hypertension` · Cardiovascular Atlas · release `2b2017b84496b985` (public) > General information from published sources, not medical advice, and not reviewed by clinicians. Check the cited source before relying on anything here. The atlas's own text and curation may be reused under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): credit the atlas, and do not use it commercially. See the atlas About page. Text quoted from a source stays under that source's own terms, given as the source's reuse\_basis. The atlas's reuse terms do not cover it. The downloads list each quotation with its source in third\_party\_quotations. Also called: High blood pressure Browse, organ or system: Blood vessels Browse, condition area: High blood pressure ## In plain language Blood pressure that stays higher than it should over time. ## Technical summary Persistently raised arterial pressure. Diagnostic and treatment thresholds differ by guideline and measurement method, so each threshold or target must be cited to a specific guideline edition. ## Claims, with the population each applies to ## Context: General statement in the WHO 2012 sodium guideline (no population stated) Recipient: Recipient not specified; Population: The background passages state no population. They are general statements in a guideline about sodium intake in adults and children, so the claim is not scoped to an age group or to pregnancy.; Care setting: Not stated in the source; Geography: Not stated in the source; Life stage: Not stated in the source; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (background statement) ### The WHO 2012 sodium guideline calls hypertension a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, in particular for heart attack and stroke. It also says the link between higher blood pressure and higher risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and stroke most of all, is well established. - Category: Description - Evidence stage: Evidence stage unknown - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Recipient not specified; Population: The background passages state no population. They are general statements in a guideline about sodium intake in adults and children, so the claim is not scoped to an age group or to pregnancy.; Care setting: Not stated in the source; Geography: Not stated in the source; Life stage: Not stated in the source; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (background statement) - Limitations: A background statement in a guideline about sodium; the fetched text gives no study data for it and does not say how much hypertension raises stroke risk. The second statement concerns blood pressure as a continuous measure, not the diagnosis of hypertension. It does not say that lowering blood pressure prevents stroke. - Last checked: Not recorded - Sources: 1. Supports: Guideline: Sodium intake for adults and children (Guideline, edition English PDF from WHO IRIS, fetched 2026-10-11. The copyright page reads 2012, reprinted 2014.) Locator: Background, page 5. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:45Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 1f42c807c29ae255b31554afafaed683d5598414a1e5cc2a4b89190c72e2f369. How it applies: Calls hypertension a major risk factor, in particular for heart attack and stroke. 2. Supports: Guideline: Sodium intake for adults and children (Guideline, edition English PDF from WHO IRIS, fetched 2026-10-11. The copyright page reads 2012, reprinted 2014.) Locator: Summary of evidence, page 13. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:45Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 1f42c807c29ae255b31554afafaed683d5598414a1e5cc2a4b89190c72e2f369. How it applies: Well-established relationship between blood pressure and risk of stroke. ## Connected pages - WHO 2012: hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, in particular for heart attack and stroke: Stroke (`core:stroke`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-hypertension-raises-stroke-risk` and its context] - Related to: Blood pressure (`core:blood-pressure`) - Recommended for this: Home blood pressure monitoring (`core:home-bp-monitoring`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-nice-ng136-1-2-4` and its context] - Related to: Preventing heart attack, stroke and heart failure (`cardio:cardiovascular-prevention`) - Recommended for this: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) (`cardio:ambulatory-bp-monitoring`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-nice-ng136-1-2-3` and its context] - Recommended for this: Blood pressure lowering medicine (`cardio:bp-lowering-medicine`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-who-2021-r1a` and its context] - Recommended for this: Blood pressure lowering medicine (`cardio:bp-lowering-medicine`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-who-2021-r1b` and its context] - Recommended for this: Blood pressure lowering medicine (`cardio:bp-lowering-medicine`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-who-2021-r1c` and its context] - Recommended for this: Blood pressure lowering medicine (`cardio:bp-lowering-medicine`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-who-2021-r4` and its context] - Recommended for this: Blood pressure lowering medicine (`cardio:bp-lowering-medicine`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-who-2021-r5` and its context] - Recommended for this: Blood-pressure lowering to a target (`cardio:bp-lowering-to-target`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-nice-ng136-target-under-80` and its context] - Recommended for this: Blood-pressure lowering to a target (`cardio:bp-lowering-to-target`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-who-2021-r6a` and its context] - Recommended for this: Blood-pressure lowering to a target (`cardio:bp-lowering-to-target`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-who-2021-r6b` and its context] - Recommended for this: Blood-pressure lowering to a target (`cardio:bp-lowering-to-target`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-who-2021-r6c` and its context] - Evaluated for this: Intensive systolic blood-pressure lowering (target below 120 mm Hg) (`cardio:intensive-sbp-lowering`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-sprint-primary-effect` and its context] - Recommended for this: Hypertension treatment by nonphysician professionals, such as pharmacists and nurses (`cardio:nonphysician-hypertension-treatment`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-who-2021-r8` and its context] - Recommended against for this: Salt substitution (lower-sodium, potassium-containing salt) (`cardio:salt-substitution`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-nice-ng136-1-4-5-salt-caution` and its context] - Related to: High sodium intake (`cardio:high-sodium-intake`) - Investigated in: Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) (`cardio:sprint`) ## Provenance Content hash: 22bc57139b1a3f13eee544b4a3e5e687807d2548663eef9adef01de1bc242aac Last substantive edit: 2026-10-09 Evidence last checked: Not recorded