What is secondary hypertension?
High blood pressure occurs when blood pushes too hard against the walls of your arteries while traveling through the body.
This extra pressure — called hypertension — can damage your organs over time. It can damage your heart, brain, eyes, lungs, and kidneys.
Doctors use the term secondary hypertension or complex hypertension to refer to high blood pressure that is caused by some other underlying disease. Your doctor may suspect secondary hypertension if your high blood pressure is not controlled with treatments that are usually effective, you suddenly develop high blood pressure, or if the blood pressure is severely elevated. This is especially true if you're under 30 or if you also have an electrolyte disorder.
Definitions of secondary hypertension
- Resistant hypertension is when your blood pressure continues to be high, even when you are taking three or more medications designed to help control it.
- Renal hypertension or hypertensive renal disease is what it's called when your high blood pressure is caused by an underlying kidney disease.
Causes of secondary hypertension
Secondary hypertension can have many different causes. Major causes include:
- Some medications can cause secondary hypertension
- Chronic kidney disease (including diabetic kidney disease)
- Genetic kidney diseases
- Renovascular disease (affecting the blood supply to the kidney)
- Endocrine disorders (i.e. primary aldosteronism, pheochromocytoma, Cushing's syndrome, hyperthyroidism)
- Obstructive sleep apnea
Complications of secondary hypertension
High blood pressure can cause a number of complications. It can be deadly if left untreated.
High blood pressure can damage the kidneys. This reduces the ability of the kidneys to clean the blood. Waste products build up in the body, causing widespread organ damage over time.
These waste products include:
- Excess fluids
- Salts
- Acids
- Hormones
Damaged kidneys also lose their ability to control blood pressure. This drives up blood pressure even higher, which causes more kidney damage and can lead to kidney failure.
How to prevent secondary hypertension
Depending on the cause of your secondary hypertension, it may be impossible to prevent. The goal of treatment is to identify a cause, so that your doctors can keep your high blood pressure under control. That way, you can avoid the impact of progressive kidney disease.
Your doctor will help you control your secondary high blood pressure by:
- Prescribing more specialized blood pressure medication
- Recommending changes to diet and lifestyle
- Treating the underlying kidney disease
Why choose UPMC for renal hypertension care?
At the UPMC Kidney Disease Center, our experts:
- Specialize in care for secondary (complex) hypertension
- Treat the full spectrum of kidney diseases, including diabetic kidney disease, chronic kidney disease, inherited kidney disease, and glomerular disease
- Partner with experts in endocrinology, cardiology, genetics and nutrition to provide comprehensive care
At the UPMC Kidney Disease Center, we will work with you to identify the cause of your high blood pressure and help you manage your high blood pressure to slow the progression of kidney disease.