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Hypertension is a growing concern for many industrialized nations. Billions of dollars are spent each year in treating the condition and the number of people with hypertension is growing year on year. Although the cases of hypertension are on the increase, many people will have benign hypertension without realising it.

It is thought that an estimated one in three people in the US have high blood pressure, and it is likely these numbers will be mirrored more or less in most industrialized nations. Of these people is it thought that about a third will go undiagnosed and not realise that they have high blood pressure, as they have not had their blood pressure levels checked for a period.

Also, of those who are diagnosed it is believed that around 50% do not take their blood pressure medication as prescribed, which is considered as one of the major causes of malignant hypertension (when blood pressure becomes very high and severe damage can occur to major organs in the body).

The reason for this complacency is clear. It is not that people aren't aware high blood pressure can lead to an increased risk of stroke, heart attacks and kidney problems, but the symptoms of high blood pressure are mild or non-existent so people either forget or don't think they need them as they feel well.

It is usually only when the blood pressure becomes severely elevated that there are symptoms identified that can be isolated.

This lack of symptoms is the reason that high blood pressure has been given the rather morbid name by many of the 'the silent killer'.

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There is a foolproof way to check if a person has high blood pressure, and that is to have the blood pressure checked in a doctors surgery, or to use one of the many home blood pressure monitors that can be purchased. Usually, it takes more than one reading to get a 'baseline' blood pressure level as a number of factors can influence a reading, including caffeine, alcohol, exercise, posture and stress levels.

In different countries the standards for what is considered as normal, pre hypertentive and hypertentive and malignant hypertension are slightly different.

- Normal blood pressure readings tend to be lower than 12/80 mmhg

- A person is likely to be considered as pre hypertentive if they have a systolic reading of between 120 and 139, or a diastolic reading of between 80 and 89. Both the systolic and the diastolic readings are important.

- A person is considered to have hypertension if they have a blood pressure over 140/90, and both the numbers will be considered when diagnosing the condition.

Many people with high blood pressure are referred to as having benign hypertension, as the damage being caused can take many years to develop.

The term 'benign' is used to distinguish it from malignant hypertension which requires immediate medical attention as it is often life threatening or can damage vital organs in the short term.

Even if you have benign hypertension, or no symptoms are being shown it is important to treat high blood pressure rapidly. There is no way of knowing the length of time that a person can have high blood pressure without causing damage, and the risk of damage increases over time.