Your heart is a muscle that acts like a pump. It takes in blood from your blood vessels and circulates it through your body to feed all your cells. Each time your heart beats, it is under pressure from your blood vessels. There is a normal amount of pressure that every heart will feel, and then there is an excessive amount of pressure, which is referred to as high blood pressure.
When you have high blood pressure, it means that your arteries are constricted and the heart has to work harder to get blood through them. This puts an inordinate amount of stress on your system. For many people, there is no known cause for the constricted arteries. For others, salt, artery narrowing and kidney disorders may be causing the high blood pressure.
Because high blood pressure can cause a heart attack or stroke it is a potentially dangerous problem. Those with high blood pressure are advised to avoid caffeine, which can further constrict arteries. They are also given medication to help reduce their blood pressure. Blood pressure monitoring through the use of a home testing machine is also advised in order to identify problems.