Abstract
Since its first description by Richard Bright in 1836, the pathogenesis of hypertension has tasked the ingenuity of the researcher and clinician. Investigation has demonstrated the presence of the symptom in certain clinical syndromes associated with congenital abnormalities of the vascular system, certain diseases of the kidney, hormonal imbalances of the endocrine glands, and metabolic dysfunctions. In most of these conditions the elevated blood pressure can be reduced to within normal levels provided treatment of the primary condition has been started early. If all of the above conditions can be ruled out, the persistent elevation of blood pressure is termed essential hypertension.