Genetics of Essential Hypertension–Historical perspective and current concept

Abstract

SummaryEssential hypertension was first recognized as morbid entity in 1911 and the word “essential” was substituted by “constitutional” in 1933. Diastolic hypertension may be constitutional or “symptomatic” if it belongs to the symptoms of a disease of specific organs (kidneys, endocrine, metabolic disease, cerebral or vascular disease). It is futile to search for such a diseased specific organ in constitutional hypertension (1933). Constitutional hypertension is a constitutional variant due to insufficient perfection of the homeostatic (feed-back) system maintaining the habitual blood pressure at a constant normal level. It is of multifactorial (polygenic) etiology (1960). It is a definite predisposition to actual diseases. It is a matter of semantics whether or not it should be called a disease of its own. The syntropy of constitutional hypertension and diabetes, obesity and arteriosclerosis is best explained by sharing various parts of polygenomes that are the common genetic basis of each of these morbid states.