High blood pressure makes your heart work harder and, over time, can damage
blood vessels throughout your body. If the blood vessels in your kidneys are
damaged, they may stop removing wastes and extra fluid from your body. The extra
fluid in your blood vessels may then raise blood pressure even more. It’s a
dangerous cycle.
High blood pressure is one of the leading causes of kidney failure, also
commonly called end-stage renal disease (ESRD). People with kidney failure must
either receive a kidney transplant or go on dialysis. Every year, high blood
pressure causes more than 25,000 new cases of kidney failure in the United
States.
