Being Aware Of Your Blood Pressure Could Literally Save Your Life
High blood pressure, which is also referred to as hypertension, is often called the ’silent killer’ because it is a potentially fatal condition that develops gradually over a number of years often without displaying any signs or symptoms of the condition at all. Because of its lack of signs and symptoms, high blood pressure can often go undiagnosed and therefore untreated.
It was estimated that in the region of 50 million adults in the United States were suffering from high blood pressure in the early 1990’s and this figure has been climbing steadily ever since. By the turn of this century it was estimated that in the region of 65 million people were suffering from high blood pressure and today that figure is now over 72 million. In other words, approximately one in three adults in the United States today is suffering from high blood pressure.
This is what some recent studies have revealed:
30% of people with high blood pressure are not aware of their condition and are therefore not receiving any treatment.
15% of the people are aware that they have hypertension but are either not getting treatment for it or do not bother to follow their recommended treatment.
25% of the people are aware that they have hypertension but they do not have their blood pressure under control.
All of this means that about only 30% of the people with hypertension are currently receiving the correct treatment for their hypertension and have it under control.
Although it is often said that it is not possible to tell if a person has high blood pressure there are a few tell-tale signs which may indicate that you have hypertension. Some of these signs and symptoms include headaches, dizziness, blurred vision and nausea.
High blood pressure is a major cause of death in the US today and it raises considerably the risk from a number of life threatening conditions such as heart failure, heart attack, cardiovascular disease and kidney failure.
Because of the nature of this condition it is a good idea to keep an eye on things by monitoring your blood pressure regularly and this can be done by simply visiting your doctor’s office and asking for a blood pressure check. This is not however all that convenient and so a better option today is to simply monitor your own pressure at home. There are a variety of monitors available today for use at home which are both quick and easy to use and are also relatively inexpensive.
Using your own blood pressure monitor at home means that you can keep an eye on the whole family’s blood pressure giving you considerable peace of mind and allowing you to detect any developing problems early so that they can be easily treated.
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