Who gets PH?

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) affects many different types of people. In most people with PH, it is associated with another medical condition. Conditions that increase your risk of developing PH include:

• portal hypertensionHigh blood pressure in the vein that carries blood to the liver. This is often caused by liver disorders.
• connective tissue disease,Any of many conditions where the connective tissues are attacked. Connective tissues are the framework that link together things like bone, organs and skin. Many connective tissue diseases involve an abnormal immune response. eg systemic sclerosisA disease involving thickening of the skin and tissues in and around internal organs. More than 1 in 10 people with systemic sclerosis develop PH.
• HIV infection(Human Immunodeficiency Virus): The virus that causes AIDS. HIV infection increases the risk of a person developing PH.
• congenital heart diseaseA heart condition that is present at birth. Sometimes, congenital heart disease will not be found out until later in a child’s life, sometimes at the time of being diagnosed with PH.
• sickle cell anaemia.A disease where the red blood cells (the cells that carry oxygen) are defective. Sickle cell disease is an inherited disease almost exclusively found in black people of African descent. People with sickle cell disease are more likely to get PH.

A small number of people with PH develop it without having another medical condition. For most of these people there is no known reason behind their PH. This is called idiopathic PH. In very rare cases, PH can be inherited.