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Our arteries and veins are the body's pipes, with the heart using them to pump blood around our circulatory system.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, puts a strain on our arteries and veins. It can also damage our heart because it has to work harder pumping blood at such a high pressure around our bodies. This damage can lead to heart failure and increase the risk of having a heart attack.

Over time, high blood pressure can lead to our arteries becoming damaged and weaker. This can cause illness and death, especially if the damaged section bursts in the brain or in the aorta, our main artery.

High blood pressure can also narrow blood vessels (arties, veins and capillaries) because the walls of the blood vessels thicken and harden due to all the hard work they are doing to handle the increased pressure.

When this happens the blood flow is reduced. This can damage the organs receiving the blood. A blood clot could also block a narrow artery, cutting off the blood supply to part of the body.

Eating too much salt can increase risk of hypertension because the sodium in salt makes your body retain more water, and the extra water in the blood vessels creates more pressure.

Our kidneys remove excess sodium from the body. They help keep our blood pressure normal. Too much salt can gradually damage our kidneys so they may become less able to remove excess sodium.

Some people's kidneys are not as good at removing sodium as others. But everyone's kidneys are less able to remove salt as we get older.