Hypertension: Controlling the 'Silent Killer'

There’s an alarming trend in the rate of hypertension. It’s increasing after a three-decade decline. A staggering 50 million Americans have high blood pressure. That’s one in every five people in the United States. With those odds, it’s a good bet that hypertension is a concern for you or someone you know.

Hypertension is an insidious disease. Because it has no symptoms or warning signs, 30% of the people who have the condition don’t realize it. That lack of knowledge can be deadly. Over the years, untreated high blood pressure quietly damages your organs and sets you on a course for several life-threatening diseases. Indeed, hypertension is the most important risk factor for stroke, which is the nation’s third leading cause of death, killing more than 167,000 people each year. Heart disease, another common complication of hypertension, is the nation’s top killer, claiming over 500,000 lives each year. Ultimately, unchecked hypertension can slice 10 to 20 years off your life, earning it the sinister nickname “the silent killer.”

That’s why it’s crucial to identify a problem and get it under control sooner rather than later. To this end, a panel of government health experts is encouraging more aggressive treatment and a lower threshold of “normal” blood pressure. The result of these changes is that millions of people who were once told that their blood pressure was “normal” or “high-normal” now fall into a “prehypertension” category. The goal is to spur people who appear to be creeping into the risk zone to make lifestyle changes that can reduce blood pressure — losing weight, increasing activity, and eating more healthfully — before their readings soar into hypertensive territory.

That danger zone starts at lower pressures than experts once believed. Based on evidence collected on almost a million people in 61 long-term studies, the dangers of high blood pressure begin at 115/75 mm Hg, and every 20-point increase in systolic pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) or 10-point increase in diastolic pressure (the bottom number) doubles your risk of dying from a stroke or heart attack. Fortunately, high blood pressure is easy to detect and treat. Sometimes lifestyle changes alone can keep blood pressure in a healthy range, while in other cases medication is necessary. This report lays out a step-by-step lifestyle program you can use to lower your blood pressure. It also covers blood pressure monitoring and medications. With the information we have today, there is no need for hypertension to be a killer any longer.

Try keeping a journal of your exercise and diet plans to help control your hypertension.