High Blood pressure
Our personal habits have a serious effect on our health too.. I have heard people say they will worry about the consequences when they come to them, and by then it is often too late to reverse the now fully developed medical problems, the cancer, diabetes and heart problems included. Most people still do not eat good healthy food too. I had a friend who died of a heart attack at the age of 21 while he was in university studying, working hard.
New "people guidelines issued for high blood pressure. `High normal' readings often turn into full-blown hypertension Canadian Press The Heart and Stroke Foundation issued updated guidelines based on new medical evidence for preventing and controlling high blood pressure, one of the leading causes of death among Canadians. Known as the "silent killer," high blood pressure (or hypertension) presents no obvious symptoms to warn people they could be in trouble, until it's too late. Uncontrolled, it can lead to heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and dementia – and it is far more common than many people believe. Almost a quarter of Canadian adults, or about 5 million, have hypertension – defined as having a blood pressure reading that exceeds 140/90. Normal blood pressure is 120/80 or less. The first number is systolic pressure (when the heart contracts) and the second is diastolic (when the heart relaxes). The new recommendations are aimed in particular at an estimated 2.5 million Canadians whose blood pressure falls into the ``high-normal" range – 130 to 139 systolic/85 to 89 diastolic. "As the blood pressure increases and gets into the high part of the range, we call that high-normal blood pressure," said Dr. Sheldon Tobe, a spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. "And the new information we have is that ... about half of people with high-normal blood pressure will develop full-blown hypertension in four years," said Tobe, a kidney specialist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, citing findings of a recent U.S. study. That means an estimated 1 million more Canadian adults will be living with high blood pressure and all the threats it poses to their health – unless it is diagnosed and treated either with lifestyle changes and/or medications, he said.
The new recommendations also strengthen warnings about sodium intake, advising Canadians to stop overloading meals with table salt and ingesting other "hidden" forms of sodium, which can elevate pressure by increasing blood volume. Daily intake should not exceed 2,300 milligrams, said Tobe, noting that many prepared foods are "loaded with salt."
Even healthy foods can contain lots of salt, he said, noting that a 347-millilitre serving of V-8 juice contains 900 milligrams of sodium. The Heart and Stroke Foundation advises reading labels on prepared foods because many contain high levels of sodium. Ketchup, mustard, pickles, peanut butter and canned, bottled or packaged convenience foods are big salt offenders, as are many snack foods: think potato chips, popcorn and crackers.
The 2007 guidelines also maintain the well-known but not-always-followed mantra to get regular exercise, eat a low-fat diet rich in fruits and vegetables, achieve or maintain a healthy weight, drink alcohol in moderation, don't smoke, reduce stress and have blood pressure checked at least once a year.
Getting the word out about the updated recommendations should make the public more aware of the need for regular blood pressure testing and for taking steps to control it, said Tobe, and it's also critical for updating doctors on the best ways to do that. "Hypertension is the Number 1 reason for visits to primary care, so it's very important for family docs" in managing their patients with high blood pressure, he said. And those who think hypertension is a disease only of older people should think again. "One in 10 young men aged 18 to 35 has high blood pressure," Tobe said, quoting figures from the most recent Canadian Heart Health Survey. "Many of these young men go undiagnosed because they're (otherwise) healthy and they often don't see their family doctors." "And if they do, it's not to have their blood pressure checked." These young men are at the highest risk for serious health conditions, he said, because "they go the longest with undiagnosed and untreated high blood pressure." For females, hypertension tends to be a disease related to aging.
After age 65, more women than men have high blood pressure, likely as a result of losing the protective effects of estrogen and other sex hormones after menopause. "So if we can screen for hypertension in women as they're getting older, postmenopausal, that's where we can identify women who have high-normal blood pressure and help to get them enamoured with lifestyle interventions, and perhaps we could help prevent them from developing hypertension altogether," Tobe said. "If they start early, perhaps they will not need medication at all or could delay the need for it by years or decades." "
For more information, go online to heartandstroke.ca or hypertension.ca.
see also http://pkbulow.tripod.com/HealthII.htm
New "people guidelines issued for high blood pressure. `High normal' readings often turn into full-blown hypertension Canadian Press The Heart and Stroke Foundation issued updated guidelines based on new medical evidence for preventing and controlling high blood pressure, one of the leading causes of death among Canadians. Known as the "silent killer," high blood pressure (or hypertension) presents no obvious symptoms to warn people they could be in trouble, until it's too late. Uncontrolled, it can lead to heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and dementia – and it is far more common than many people believe. Almost a quarter of Canadian adults, or about 5 million, have hypertension – defined as having a blood pressure reading that exceeds 140/90. Normal blood pressure is 120/80 or less. The first number is systolic pressure (when the heart contracts) and the second is diastolic (when the heart relaxes). The new recommendations are aimed in particular at an estimated 2.5 million Canadians whose blood pressure falls into the ``high-normal" range – 130 to 139 systolic/85 to 89 diastolic. "As the blood pressure increases and gets into the high part of the range, we call that high-normal blood pressure," said Dr. Sheldon Tobe, a spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. "And the new information we have is that ... about half of people with high-normal blood pressure will develop full-blown hypertension in four years," said Tobe, a kidney specialist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, citing findings of a recent U.S. study. That means an estimated 1 million more Canadian adults will be living with high blood pressure and all the threats it poses to their health – unless it is diagnosed and treated either with lifestyle changes and/or medications, he said.
The new recommendations also strengthen warnings about sodium intake, advising Canadians to stop overloading meals with table salt and ingesting other "hidden" forms of sodium, which can elevate pressure by increasing blood volume. Daily intake should not exceed 2,300 milligrams, said Tobe, noting that many prepared foods are "loaded with salt."
Even healthy foods can contain lots of salt, he said, noting that a 347-millilitre serving of V-8 juice contains 900 milligrams of sodium. The Heart and Stroke Foundation advises reading labels on prepared foods because many contain high levels of sodium. Ketchup, mustard, pickles, peanut butter and canned, bottled or packaged convenience foods are big salt offenders, as are many snack foods: think potato chips, popcorn and crackers.
The 2007 guidelines also maintain the well-known but not-always-followed mantra to get regular exercise, eat a low-fat diet rich in fruits and vegetables, achieve or maintain a healthy weight, drink alcohol in moderation, don't smoke, reduce stress and have blood pressure checked at least once a year.
Getting the word out about the updated recommendations should make the public more aware of the need for regular blood pressure testing and for taking steps to control it, said Tobe, and it's also critical for updating doctors on the best ways to do that. "Hypertension is the Number 1 reason for visits to primary care, so it's very important for family docs" in managing their patients with high blood pressure, he said. And those who think hypertension is a disease only of older people should think again. "One in 10 young men aged 18 to 35 has high blood pressure," Tobe said, quoting figures from the most recent Canadian Heart Health Survey. "Many of these young men go undiagnosed because they're (otherwise) healthy and they often don't see their family doctors." "And if they do, it's not to have their blood pressure checked." These young men are at the highest risk for serious health conditions, he said, because "they go the longest with undiagnosed and untreated high blood pressure." For females, hypertension tends to be a disease related to aging.
After age 65, more women than men have high blood pressure, likely as a result of losing the protective effects of estrogen and other sex hormones after menopause. "So if we can screen for hypertension in women as they're getting older, postmenopausal, that's where we can identify women who have high-normal blood pressure and help to get them enamoured with lifestyle interventions, and perhaps we could help prevent them from developing hypertension altogether," Tobe said. "If they start early, perhaps they will not need medication at all or could delay the need for it by years or decades." "
For more information, go online to heartandstroke.ca or hypertension.ca.
see also http://pkbulow.tripod.com/HealthII.htm
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