What would you do with five extra summers? Would you learn how to sail? Or hike the Appalachian Trail? Take a trip to France? Golf in Ireland? Maybe you’d relax on a cruise to Alaska or the Caribbean. Maybe all of them! At age 50, total life expectancy is about five years longer for people with normal blood pressure than for people with hypertension, or high blood pressure.
The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association encourages everyone to know their blood pressure levels and reduce their numbers and risk, to help live healthier and stronger for an extra five summers, or more.
“High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a disease and can have deadly health consequences if not treated,”asserts Dr. Perry Weinstock, member of the Southern New Jersey American Heart Association and American Stroke Association Regional Board of Directors and Chief of Cardiology at Cooper University Hospital.
“It’s sometimes called “the silent killer” because high blood pressure has no symptoms, so you may not be aware that it’s damaging your arteries, heart and other organs,” Weinstock said.
About 80 million U.S. adults have been diagnosed with high blood pressure. The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association encourages everyone to check their blood pressure, which takes just a few minutes at your doctor’s office, at a blood pressure machine located at many local pharmacies, or by using a home monitoring device.
By knowing your numbers, gauging and managing your risk for high blood pressure, you can help get those extra summers. The American Heart Association’s High Blood Pressure Health Risk Calculator helps gauge your risk of having a heart attack, stroke, and developing heart failure and kidney disease. You’ll also learn how a few lifestyle changes can lower your blood pressure and your health risks, and then print your risk report to discuss with your healthcare professional. It’s available online at www.heart.org/HBPRiskCalc.
Science has identified several factors that can increase your risk of developing high blood pressure and thus your risk for heart attack, heart disease and stroke.
Risks among certain groups is higher, including African-Americans and women, who, starting at age 65, are more likely to have HBP than men. Note that high blood pressure can happen at any age, in fact, children can develop high blood pressure, too.
Risk factors for developing high blood pressure, or hypertension, include family history, advanced age, gender-related risk patterns, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet/high-sodium diet, being overweight or obese, and drinking too much alcohol.
High blood pressure is just one condition that increases your risk of heart disease and stroke. Learn about other heart disease and stroke risk factors at www.heart.org/risk.
