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Health
& Wellness July,
August, September Health Education Topic This quarter's health information offering
is from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and is an educational
offering on High Blood Pressure. We are providing this
connection because the NHLBI provides national leadership regarding research
projects to find causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases of the
heart, blood vessels, lungs, and blood; sleep disorders; and blood resources,
and also focuses on education to let us know more about high blood pressure so
we can make informed personal health care decisions in conjunction with our
Doctor. The
Minnesota Department of Health says that the leading cause of death of all
age groups for Benton County
residents is Heart Disease at 32.4% (Stearns
and Sherburne County also have Heart Disease as leading cause, Stearns
at 29.7%, Sherburne at 22.2%).
Many factors can be controlled to prevent this. Education and behavior change
can decrease our risk for heart disease. That is why we offer the following
educational opportunity to you. Current findings suggest high-normal blood pressure
increase cardiovascular risk. So the new way to treat high blood pressure is to
treat it earlier. From
the NHLBI annual report of 2002: "High-normal Blood Pressure Increases
Cardiovascular Risk High blood pressure, or hypertension, which is
defined as >140 mm Hg systolic (the pressure in arteries when the heart is
contracted) and/or >90 mm Hg diastolic (the pressure in arteries when the
heart is relaxed), is well established as a risk factor for cardiovascular
disease. However, less is known about the prognostic significance of high-normal
blood pressure. Using data from the Framingham Heart Study, researchers found
that persons with high-normal blood pressure have 1.6 to 2.5 times the risk of
suffering a heart attack, a stroke, or heart failure in 10 years compared with
persons who have normal blood pressure. The risk IS higher for men than for
women and increased continuously with age. After 10 years of follow-up, the risk
of cardiovascular disease in person's aged 35-64 who had high-normal blood
pressure was 4 percent for women and 8 percent for men. In person's aged 65 or
older, the risk was 18 percent for women and 25 percent for men. The findings
support the wisdom of encouraging persons with high-normal blood pressure to
undertake lifestyle changes to lower it to a healthier level. This is especially
true for older individuals who are likely to have other cardiovascular disease
risk factors, such as high cholesterol and diabetes. HEALTH NEWS BULLETIN, May 14, 2003! BLOOD PRESSURE NORMS ARE REVISED! A New
Normal: Experts Toughen Blood Pressure Goals If you thought your blood pressure was OK, it might not be low enough after all. A revised national classification system, announced on May 14, 2003, toughens up blood pressure guidelines, saying the familiar standard of 120/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) is no longer considered good enough to prevent serious or deadly health consequences. In fact, that old standard is now classified as prehypertension, likely to worsen and cause a heart attack or stroke if left untreated. "There's a major risk of developing full hypertension if you don't make changes in your lifestyle or take other steps to control your blood pressure," says Dr. Sheps, who served on the committee that drafted the new national guidelines. The updated guidelines set a stricter standard for what's considered normal blood pressure, add the new category of prehypertension and streamline classification of the types of hypertension. The new guidelines encourage the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits, such as regular exercise and limited sodium consumption, to help keep blood pressure in check. Left untreated, high blood pressure can cause a variety of cardiovascular complications, including heart attack and stroke — two of the three leading causes of death among U.S. adults — as well as heart and kidney failure and vision loss. The guidelines also recommend that doctors treat high blood pressure more aggressively with medications. Under the new guidelines, your blood pressure is normal only if it's below 120/80 mm Hg. In the past, normal was anything below 130/85 mm Hg, and optimal — the blood pressure most healthy people should aim for — was a reading of 120/80 or lower. But new evidence shows neither of those readings are low enough to prevent cardiovascular complications. The bottom line: The lower your blood pressure, the better, as long as you are otherwise healthy. The new guidelines also include a category called prehypertension. Prehypertension is a systolic pressure (top number) ranging from 120 to 139 or a diastolic pressure (bottom number) ranging from 80 to 89. So, under these new classification criteria, if your blood pressure is right at 120/80, you have prehypertension — your blood pressure isn't normal or optimal. As before, the new guidelines classify blood pressure as outright hypertension beginning at 140/90 mm Hg. But the new guidelines do away with the old, more complicated system of categorizing hypertension into three risk groups called A, B and C based on three stages of hypertension, plus such factors as your sex and other health problems you may have. Instead, hypertension now simply falls into two categories: Stage
1. This includes a systolic pressure ranging from 140 to 159 or a diastolic
pressure ranging from 90 to 99. Stage
2. The most severe hypertension, this includes a systolic pressure of 160 or
higher or a diastolic of 100 or higher. And
as with prehypertension, only one of the numbers — the top or bottom — needs
to be high for you to meet these criteria. The new guidelines don't do away with all of the previous recommendations. As before, they continue to urge the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits. Among them: *Maintaining a healthy weight. *Following the low-sodium, low-fat DASH eating plan. *Reducing dietary sodium consumption. *Getting regular physical activity. *Drinking alcohol only in moderation.
When's the last time you had your blood pressure checked? If it has been more than two years, it's time to pay a visit to your doctor. In healthy adults, blood pressure screening should begin at age 21, with repeat evaluations at least every two years, or more often depending on your current health, medical history and risk factors for cardiovascular disease. CONSULT YOUR
PHYSICIAN REGARDING YOUR OWN CIRCUMSTANCE Please
go to this Website for the full educational offering on Your Guide to Lowering High Blood Pressure: www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp |