NCHSE EOC Standard 1 Academic Foundation Practice Test

The term for high blood pressure is hypertension. This describes a condition where the force of the blood against artery walls stays higher than normal over time. Blood pressure is shown as systolic over diastolic, and when these readings are persistently elevated, clinicians label the condition hypertension. Understanding this helps explain why long-term high pressure can strain the heart and vessels and raise the risk of heart disease, stroke, and kidney problems. The other options refer to different conditions: a gastric ulcer is a sore in the stomach lining, melanoma is a type of skin cancer, and a urinary tract infection affects the urinary tract.