Your hectic job, difficult marriage, rebellious children and dwindling bank account? They're probably not raising your blood pressure in a medically meaningful way, according to the latest research.

• The big picture: The real culprits are genetics and poor habits that are often linked to stress, like overeating, smoking and hitting the bottle, Axios' Jennifer Kingson reports.

💡 Why it matters: Nearly half of U.S. adults have hypertension (high blood pressure), and only 24% of those diagnosed have it under control, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Elevated blood pressure causes 12.8% of all deaths globally, the World Health Organization says.

Driving the news: While studies have shown population-wide blood pressure elevation during the highly stressful COVID-19 pandemic, the rises were modest, doctors say, and likely related to people getting less exercise, eating poorly, drinking too much and seeing their doctors less often.

• Many patients actually saw their blood pressure readings improve during the pandemic — probably because they weren't consuming as many salty restaurant meals, says Samuel Mann, a hypertension specialist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.

It's a "medical myth" that chronic stress causes hypertension — job stress in particular, says Mann, who reviewed dozens of studies on the topic and found no meaningful correlation.

🧠 Reality check: The medical community still hasn't completely dispelled the stress-blood pressure link.

• While everyday stress doesn't cause chronic hypertension, repressed emotions — from childhood upheavals and other traumas — sometimes can, Mann writes in his new book.

The bottom line: A healthy diet combined with regular exercise and good sleeping habits can control or avert hypertension, doctors say.

• Management of blood pressure and stress "is really 70% lifestyle and 30% medications," per the Cleveland Clinic.

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Here's a creative holiday gift idea for those of you who are talented in the kitchen, from Finish Line reader Ellen M.

🥂 "My parents loved to entertain, but as they got older, it was difficult. So I gifted them a dinner party. They could invite 8 guests. I cooked and served." 

• "I thought it was a one-off, but my dad called the next year and said he had his guest list ready. I did it for about 10 years."
• "Each year there was a special theme. On the 50th anniversary of Julia Child's book "The Art of French Cooking," I selected recipes from her book.  Other themes were Italian, Cajun, Afghan."
• "My parents spent the year helping to decide what the theme would be. It became so popular that their friends started lobbying to get invited. I have wonderful memories of those years."