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Glite Dictionary
essential hypertension

essential hypertension

4.2
High blood pressure that lasts a long time and has no known cause
  • noun
  • /ɪˈsɛnʃəl haɪˈpɛrˌtɛnʃən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : hipertensión esencial
  • We have written a computer program called HyperCritic that audits general practitioners' management of patients with essential hypertension by taking patient-specific data from the ELIAS system.

Examples

  • And, and the group with the highest level of essential hypertension are white people who live in Germany.

  • Nowadays, we know that there is a big genetic component in essential hypertension, although the particular genes involved have not yet been identified.

    Academic text (1991)

  • The clinical euphemism for our ignorance in such cases is "essential hypertension."

    Academic text (1991)

  • Hypercritic offers comments on drug therapy and laboratory tests given to patients with benign essential hypertension.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Patients were included consecutively if they were willing to participate (and gave written consent) and had untreated or treated essential hypertension.

    Academic text (1992)

  • 13 (6%) patients had congestive heart failure (all causes), ten (5%) had chronic obstructive airways disease, and nine (4%) had essential hypertension.

    Academic text (1996)

  • Essential hypertension is a common condition where blood pressure remains high without a known cause.

  • Doctors often struggle to determine the exact cause of essential hypertension in their patients.

  • Lifestyle changes can help manage essential hypertension, even when its cause is unclear.

Synonyms

high blood pressure
vsessential hypertension
  • Specialized
52 2.8

A condition in which blood pushes too hard against vessel walls and increases health risks

is the chronic pathological type without an identifiable cause
hypertension
vsessential hypertension
  • Specialized
39 3.7

A long-term condition in which blood pressure stays too high and can damage the heart

is restricted to long term rises without a known cause
hyperpiesia
vsessential hypertension
  • Archaic
9.9

Very high blood pressure that lasts a long time with no clear cause

is the same meaning but presented as an alternative form
hyperpiesis
vsessential hypertension
  • Archaic
9.9

A long-term condition of high blood pressure with no clear cause

is identical in sense but differs only as a variant form

Surface Forms

essential hypertension singular
essential hypertensions plural

Morphology

essential + hypertension

While 'hypertension' (high blood pressure) is transparent, the adjective 'essential' here has a specialized medical sense meaning 'primary' or 'of unknown/idiopathic cause', not 'necessary' or 'important'. A B1 learner who only knows the common meanings of the constituents would likely misinterpret the phrase, so the term is not compositional and is opaque.

Etymology

Essential hypertension is a medical term that uses essential in an older sense meaning 'main', and hypertension means 'high blood pressure'. So it names the common kind of high blood pressure that happens on its own without a clear cause.