genetic factors
Last reviewed 01/2018
Genetic factors are thought to be important in essential hypertension, inheritance being multigenic:
- twins show a greater concordance than spouses
- twin studies indicate that up to 60% of the variability in blood pressure is related to inheritable factors
- close relative of patients with a blood pressure 50 mm Hg above the mean, themselves have a blood pressure on average 14 mm Hg above the mean