Risk Factors And Causes Of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Hypertension

Hypertension occurs when the blood exerts too much force against the blood vessel walls. It is medically defined as a blood pressure reading of 130/80 millimeters of mercury or higher. This can be a result of another underlying medical condition, or it can be due to genetic factors. The consumption of certain medications and substances may also cause a patient to have high blood pressure. When an individual is overweight or obese, their blood volume increases. The increase in blood volume causes blood pressure to rise as well. Lifestyle choices such as diet, alcohol consumption, inactiveness, and tobacco use can also cause high blood pressure. When an individual has hypertension for an extended duration of time, the heart has to work harder to adequately pump the blood against the elevated pressure in the blood vessels. The elevated vessel pressure causes resistance in the normal flow of oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. As the heart works harder to compensate for this, the muscle tissues of the left ventricle will thicken, and left ventricular hypertrophy will progress.

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Age And Gender

Age and gender cannot cause left ventricular hypertrophy to develop on their own, but both factors can increase an individual's risk of developing it. Women are more likely to develop left ventricular hypertrophy when they have high blood pressure than men. Studies have suggested the reason behind this is that women experience more significant damage to organs and blood vessels from high blood pressure than men do. In addition, women have smaller coronary arteries on average than men. The smaller coronary artery size combined with high blood pressure can cause a limitation of blood flow to the tissues of the heart. Reduced blood flow to part of the muscular heart tissue causes other regions of the heart to work harder in efforts to compensate. This overburden can cause the left ventricle to become thicker than usual.

Advanced age can cause an individual to have an increased risk for developing left ventricular hypertrophy in several ways as well. The arteries around the body become hard and stiff as an individual ages and plaque can also build up in the arteries that cause the heart to work harder. Hormones can influence the way calcium channels regulate the heart rhythm, and an individual of advanced age is more likely to experience high blood pressure than those who are younger.

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