High Blood Pressure, What is It?
In the United States of America they reckon that there are a staggering 50 million plus people over the age of six who are sufferers of High Blood Pressure.
High Blood Pressure is an insidious disease. The reason for this is that it actually has very little in the way of outward symptoms or warning signs. A shocking fact is that 30 percent of the people who sufferer from it don't actually realise that they suffer from it.
If left untreated, over the years, High Blood Pressure quietly goes about its business and damages virtually every organ in the body and actually places you in more overall danger than virtually any other condition around.
High Blood Pressure is the most important factor behind Stroke, the third most deadly illness in the Western World. Heart Disease, another one of the complications due to High Blood Pressures is the largest killer, claiming over 500,000 deaths each year in the United States alone.
If left untreated, High Blood Pressure can shorten your life by up to 20 years earning it the rather dubious name, "The Silent Killer".
It is absolutely essential to identify and diagnose High Blood Pressure as soon as is possible. In fact such is the desire to ensure that as few people suffer from High Blood Pressure that the threshold for High Blood Pressure i.e. the level at which it was deemed safe to have Blood Pressure, has now been lowered so that we now have a condition known as "Pre High Blood Pressure". The goal is to try and catch those whose Blood Pressure levels were once deemed to be at the high end of being normal and stop them from becoming sufferers of High Blood Pressure.
The other part of this treatment is to make sure that changes in lifestyle are effected as early as possible so as to have as much effect as possible.
The danger point starts with much lower levels of Blood Pressure than was once believed. Using a base point now of 115/75 mm Hg, it is now believed that with a 20 point increase of the upper figure ( the systolic pressure) or an increase of around 10 points in the lower level (the diastolic pressure) your risk of dying from a Stroke or Heart Attack Doubles.
If you know what to look for High Blood Pressure can be detected and measured very easily. Sometimes all it takes to lower the Blood Pressure levels are lifestyle changes whilst in certain other cases, Medication is required.
Nowadays, with the information at our disposal, there is certainly no reason why High Blood Pressure should be the Death Sentence it once was.
The bottom line is that we all probably know someone who either has High Blood Pressure already but we also all know someone who not only has High Blood Pressure but has yet to be diagnosed with it.
Related Tags: high blood pressure, treatment, symptoms, effects
Stephen Morgan is Senior Editor for Living with High Blood Pressure and also its sister site Living with Stress. Further information on the above article can be found at http://www.livingwithhighbloodpressure.net/features/it_could_all_be_in_the_eyes.html
Your Article Search Directory : Find in ArticlesRecent articles in this category:
- Good News for Coffee Lovers- One-Cup Coffee Drinkers Less Likely To Get Heart Disease
Are you drinking too much coffee? We seem to need it to wake up in the morning, to stay alert when - Sleep Disorders and Cardiovasular Disease - A Close Link
"A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book." Irish ProverbHuman beings - Breathing for Health - Easy Does It!
Breathing is in the air. You can hardly open a magazine or browse a health site on the web without f - Lower Cholesterol Naturally And Safely
Have you been told by your doctor to lower cholesterol levels through your diet? Or are you one of - Defibrillators- Will You Be the Next One Saved by an AED?
AED stands for Automated External Defibrillator. An AED, or Automated External Defibrillator is a li - Avoiding High Cholesterol Foods For A Healthier New You
High cholesterol diets that stress cutting eggs and butter out of the diet have been found to have a - Healthy Heart Food - What Is The Best Diet For Your Heart And Which Foods Heal?
What is the best diet for a healthy heart? Which foods can you eat which will improve your chances o - Aspirin - Beneficial for Your Heart
As the arteries grow hard, the heart grows soft. -H. L. Mencken.A daily aspirin may prevent your art - Stress - Can It Really Cause Heart Disease?
Stress- we're all aware of the feeling- overburdened, overwhelmed, and at times ready to pull our ha - Is Depression After Heart Bypass Surgery Normal Or Is It Serious?
It's been found that depression after heart bypass surgery is not all that uncommon. In fact, it rea
Most viewed articles in this category:
- What Is Heart Failure?
We always hear people talking about heart failure. But how many of us really know about this disease - Cholesterol: A Quick Guide to Good and Bad Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a fatty, waxy substance which is absolutely essential to the function of the body and - How Exercise Works In Lowering Your Blood Pressure?
There happens to be a very close connection of blood pressure with exercising. Exercise could effect - Weapons in the Battle Against Heart Disease
Heart disease and stroke are our nation's number one killers. As we become more sedentary and more o - Exercise Lowers Homocysteine
A recent study from multiple medical centers shows that a regular exercise program helps to lower - Calf Pain May Be Intermittent Claudication
If your legs don't hurt at rest and you develop pain in your calves after walking for a short time - How Needles Help A Stroke Patient To Recover
Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) is usually regarded as an alternative treatment. Patients will s - Drug Coated Stents May Be Harmful To Patients!
Drug-coated stents, sold in the United States by Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific Corp have h - Why the Heart Fails
Heart fails when the heart is unable to pump blood effectively. So, why does this happen? Now, let u - How To Cheat And Avoid Heart Disease Naturally
CHEATING HEART DISEASEHow To Cheat And Avoid Heart Disease NaturallyHeart disease is the number one