Patient's question:
My mother-in-law has high blood pressure and needs to take medication every day. Suddenly, I remembered that someone said high blood pressure can be inherited across generations. So, I thought that my husband might also get high blood pressure in the future, and I wanted to verify if it's true. Does high blood pressure really have an intergenerational inheritance?Doctor's answer:
Hypertension has a certain genetic component. Generally, individuals with a family history of hypertension are more prone to developing hypertension compared to those without such a history. If one parent has hypertension, the incidence of hypertension in their children can reach 28%. If both parents have hypertension, the incidence in their children can reach 46%. Among adult siblings of hypertensive patients, 65% may develop hypertension, with monozygotic twins having a higher correlation with hypertension compared to other relatives. Many factors associated with the onset of hypertension, such as hyperlipidemia, obesity, diabetes, and high-salt diets, also have a close relationship with intergenerational inheritance.