If your health care provider suspects that you’re suffering from hypertension, he or she is likely to suggest that you have additional tests. How your provider decides to evaluate your high blood pressure will be based on your specific history, lifestyle and any symptoms. This approach varies somewhat from one patient to the next and from one provider to the next.

Most people with high blood pressure don’t have an obvious cause, so their condition is sometimes referred to as “essential” or “primary” hypertension. A few people, however, do have a particular physical condition that causes their high blood pressure, for example a specific problem with their heart or kidneys. This type of high blood pressure is called “secondary” hypertension. For these few people, identifying and treating the cause is very important. If your provider suspects that your hypertension may actually be “secondary hypertension”, he may order tests that will help identify the underlying cause.