Secondary high blood pressure

Secondary high blood pressure is high blood pressure that's caused by another disease or condition. It can also be caused by certain medicines. If your doctor can treat what's causing the high blood pressure, it might lower your blood pressure. The risk of secondary high blood pressure is higher in children than in adults.

If your doctor thinks that you may have secondary high blood pressure, you may need tests to diagnose other health problems. Your doctor will also check the medicines that you take, because some medicines can cause high blood pressure as a side effect.

Your doctor may suspect that you have secondary high blood pressure if you have certain signs, such as:

• Your blood pressure has suddenly gone up since it was last checked.
• You are younger than 30 and have high blood pressure.
• You have had many treatments and medicines, but you still have high blood pressure.
• You have symptoms of health problems that may raise blood pressure.
• Your kidneys don't work as well as they should.

Secondary high blood pressure is typically treated by treating the cause of the high blood pressure. Your treatment depends on what is causing your high blood pressure and whether the high blood pressure should be lowered as soon as possible to prevent problems.

If a health problem is the cause, this high blood pressure may return to normal when the other health problem is treated. But treating the condition that has caused your secondary high blood pressure will not always lower blood pressure back to a normal level. In this case, you may need to treat the high blood pressure too.

If a medicine is the cause, this high blood pressure may return to normal if the medicine is stopped or the dose is adjusted.