<s>[INST] Can excessive weight cause High blood pressure? [/INST] Hypertension or high blood pressure occurs when the force with which the blood pushing against the artery wall is too high. Any blood pressure above a mark of 140/90 is called blood pressure and above 180/120 is called severe. The significant rise in obesity is found to have a direct correlation to risk of high blood pressure. Obesity and hypertension together can give rise to an array of health issues and challenges there by affecting health, quality of life and life expectancy. Apart from just weight and obesity the fat distribution is also an important factor that plays a major role. Abdominal Obesity or central obesity around the waist circumference is the influencing factor for developing hypertension. A BMI above 30 is a major risk factor for high blood pressure. When a person is overweight or obese, the heart has to work harder to pump blood throughout the body. This puts an excess stress on the arteries which in turn makes the arteries to resist this flow causing the blood pressure to rise. Source: LOC. Link: https://obesityasia.com/faqs/. Field: Endocrinology. Disease: Obesity </s>