Health Effects Of Oxidative Stress

High Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is best defined as the amount of force the blood places on the arterial walls as it flows through them. When this pressure gets too high, it is referred to as high blood pressure (hypertension). Hypertension can result in several serious medical problems such as an increased risk of stroke, blood clots, aneurysms, kidney disease, metabolic syndrome, brain function impairment, heart failure, and heart attacks. Oxidative stress causes the stimulation of vascular smooth cell hypertrophy (enlargement of cells) and proliferation or increase in the number of cells. This leads to the thickening of arterial walls and the narrowing of vessels, which results in an increase in blood pressure. Oxidative stress also causes damage to the endothelium and inhibits the normal process of endothelium-dependent vascular relaxation. This results in increased contractile activity of the blood vessels, which causes an increase in blood pressure as well.

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