Quick: what does this number mean – 74 million?
What about this one – 120?
And this one – 80?
How ‘bout these – 139, 89, 140, 90?
Give up?
Kay.
Over 74 million American have hypertension; AKA “the silent killer;” AKA high blood pressure. Untreated high blood pressure can lead to such fun things as stroke, heart failure and kidney disease.
74 million Americans. That’s about one in four adults. In plain speak, that means between you and your three best gal-pals, one of you has high blood pressure.
Kinda scary, huh?
So what about the other numbers? 120/80 is a normal blood pressure (BP) reading. A reading between 120/80 and 139/89 is considered pre-hypertensive, or on the cusp of being high blood pressure. 140/90 means you have arrived and are hypertensive. You’re officially that “one out of four adults” with high blood pressure.
What leads to high blood pressure? A number of factors, some you can control and some you cannot. Let’s look at the controllable ones, it’s a familiar drill: lack of exercise, poor diet, stress, tobacco use, obesity and excessive alcohol use. (And, yes, there is such a thing as too much alcohol!)
How is high blood pressure treated? Well, any health care professional worth his or her salt is gonna address the controllable factors before prescribing a little blue, green or purple pill. If you’ve been diagnosed with high blood pressure, you need to watch your diet. Cut down on saturated fats, AKA red meat that has the great “marbling” in it. Eat more fish, especially salmon and mackerel. Both are fatty fish, but it’s the “good” monounsaturated, Omega 3 fat. Also pump up your intake of veggies and fruits. If you consume more of those, you’ll naturally cut down on the things you love to eat, but shouldn’t eat too much of.
Get outside and go for a walk – every day! It’s exercise anyone can do and it’ll also help reduce stress. (Get a pooch if necessary. It’s a built-in reason to walk.) If you smoke, quit. (I know it’s not that simple, so says a smoker for over twelve years. But consider the alternative.) Cut down on the booze, whether beer, wine or liquor. Yes, there are certain health benefits to drinking some alcohol, if the consumption is one drink/day for women and two drinks/day for men. (One drink equals 5 ounces of wine OR 12 ounces of beer OR one ounce of the hard stuff.) Join a yoga or Tai Chi class. Each will keep you moving and help reduce the stress in our stressful lives.
The uncontrollable factors which can lead to hypertension are age and family history. It’s true you can’t turn the clock back, but you can make the most of your time right now. So what if you’re in your mid-40s, 50s, or 60s? (I hear that 65 is the new 45 anyway.) If you eat right and exercise and do all the other controllable things, you won’t feel, look or even act your age. Trust me. And family history is no excuse to throw in the towel and say, “There’s nothing I can do about my high blood pressure.” My father-in-law had that attitude. Two years after suffering a heart attack, and ignoring the doctor’s advice and life-saving surgery, he was dead.
I know I’ve thrown a bunch of info at y’all, but knowing your blood pressure is vital to good health. I mean, there’s a reason they check it every time we go to the doc’s office, right? Knowledge is power and we all want to be empowered. So, know your numbers and if they’re too high, work to bring ‘em down. BTW, just went to the doc last week and guess what? My numbers were 112/72. Know what that means? It means you just stopped being “one out of four adults” and are now “one out of three” because I don’t have high blood pressure.
So what are your numbers?
