October 14th, 2008
Join my hypertensive club
Here is some news which hit very close to home today.
More Americans have hypertension, or high blood pressure, than ever before. In fact nearly 30% of American adults studied over the five years ending in 2004 had it.
I’m one of them. In fact today’s post is a bit late because a doctor visit revealed my condition has worsened, and new meds have been added to my regimen.
It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Both my parents had high blood pressure. Absent statins I have very high cholesterol numbers. My dad, who went through middle age before there were statins, had his first heart attack at 48. I’m 53 and still waiting.
The good news is that, for many people, this can be easy to control. Lose the weight. As much as 80% of the increase in hypertension over the last decades may be attributed to obesity.
There is more good news, as study co-author Paul Sorlie told Heartwire. “Awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension have also improved, higher than ever reported.”
One other point on the study, which will be published in the journal Hypertension. Much of the recent increase is among women, especially white women. White men now have better control of this than white women.
Also, education works. During the period in question specific programs were put in place to teach black women about the disease, and they showed an enormous increase in awareness and compliance.
Compliance is dead simple. Check your pressure with a cuff. Control your weight and stop smoking. Exercise. Be aware of changes in how you feel based on the readings you get and act accordingly. (I’m taking a nap right after I write this.)
Then, just take your medicine. Statins can control the cholesterol, and there are many types of drugs that can help with hypertension:
- Diuretics like Lasix.
- Beta blockers like Sectral.
- ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme) inhibitors like Captopril
- Angiotensin II receptor antagonists like Diovan (which I take), and
- Calcium channel blockers like Norvasc.
As you get older your doctor may want to mix-and-match these drugs to your changing condition. I’m adding a diuretic in my next Diovan prescription, and will see the doc in six weeks.
The point is you don’t have to die like my dad did. Hypertension does not have to control your life. Get checked out.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist since 1978, and has covered technology since 1982. He launched the Interactive Age Daily, the first daily coverage of the Internet to launch with a magazine, in September 1994. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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