High Blood Pressure (HBP)
For most people. your blood pressure shouldn’t be higher than 130/80 mmHg - George Thomas MD
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Why New Blood Pressure Guidelines Could Lead to Harm
When was the last time you were asked to sit without saying a word for five minutes before your blood pressure was measured? If your answer was "I never remember doing that," you're in good company.
Yet that is one of the many rules that medical professionals are supposed to follow when measuring your blood pressure.
Paul Whelton, a cardiovascular specialist at the Tulane University School of Public Health, says airplane pilots always run down a safety checklist before taking off. "We would be shocked if a pilot told us he was in a rush and just didn't have time to do it."
Yet he says clinicians aren't taking enough care to make an important measurement when it…
Resources
Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP)
The formula for calculating mean arterial pressure (MAP) is systolic + diastolic x’s 2 divided by 3 or (SBP+2DBP)/3.
Why managing blood pressure matters during COVID-19 pandemic
Why managing blood pressure matters during COVID-19 pandemic https://theconversation.com/why-managing-blood-pressure-matters-during-covid-19-pandemic-138650 Managing hypertension matters in the fight against COVID-19 too. What’s known about COVID-19 so far suggests that people with pre-existing conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and heart disease can experience severe complications when infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Why Hypertension Is More Deadly Than It Has to Be
With the right diagnosis and treatment, high blood pressure can usually be easily managed. Covid-19 has made this more crucial than ever.
Blood-Pressure Drugs Don’t Increase Coronavirus Risk
It is safe to continue taking your blood-pressure medications, researchers said.
Doctors botch blood pressure readings more often than you think
High blood pressure is a silent killer. Here’s why doctors often fail to catch it.
A New Reading of Blood Pressure
While the measurement of blood pressure has been among the most common medical practices for over a century, the results are undergoing a reinterpretation—one that tells over half of U.S. adults that they need to make a change.
Doctors botch blood pressure readings more often than you think
High blood pressure is a silent killer. Here’s why doctors often fail to catch it.
How to Lower Your Blood Pressure
The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology have released new treatment guidelines that sharply lower the threshold for high blood pressure, also called hypertension. As a result, tens of millions of Americans now qualify for the diagnosis. The new guidelines have raised a number of questions for patients. Here are a few answers.
Reading the new blood pressure guidelines
The definition for what is considered high blood pressure has been tightened. Here's what you need to know.
The curious case of high blood pressure around the world
A new study challenges received wisdom about the causes of high blood pressure.
The latest blood pressure guidelines: What they mean for you
The AHA, the American College of Cardiology and nine other health professional organizations reviewed more than 900 studies as part of a rigorous review and approval process to develop this first update since 2003 to comprehensive U.S. high blood pressure guidelines. Here’s what’s new...
The Silent Killer: One Woman’s Story of High Blood Pressure
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? You’ve probably heard this question before in a philosophy or physics class. But what does it have to do with your health? Try this: If I have high blood pressure and I don’t see any symptoms, do I still have the disease? The answer is yes.
Africa's Top Health Challenge: Cardiovascular Disease
High blood pressure affects nearly one in two Africans over the age of 25.
Blood Pressure, the Mystery Number
Almost half a century after rigorous studies showed medicines that lower blood pressure prevent heart attacks, strokes and deaths, researchers still do not know just how low blood pressure should go.
Clearing Up the Confusion About Salt
If you’re confused about salt, I’m not surprised. There’s been a steady back-and-forth on claims that reducing dietary sodium (which represents 40 percent of the salt molecule) is crucial to our well-being, countered by claims that following this advice can sometimes be a health hazard.
Definition of White Coat Hypertension
Although white coat hypertension has been known for ≈30 years, there are still important doubts regarding its significance and how to manage patients with this condition.
Guidelines on Blood Pressure Eased
The new hypertension recommendations say doctors should consider prescribing blood-pressure drugs to patients age 60 and over whose levels are 150/90 or higher. The previous threshold was 140/90.
High Blood Pressure Is An Increasingly Common Complaint In Emergency Departments, But Should It Be?
If you're taking medication for high blood pressure, chances are your doctor told you to buy a cuff so you can check it daily at home. Maybe you sometimes also check it when you see one of those public blood pressure machines in a pharmacy. But do you know what to do if your numbers climb one day, even though you feel fine? A new Canadian study suggests that if you're like many people, you're going to rush to the nearest hospital emergency department. And that might not be the right thing to do.
How Bad Is it to Ignore High Blood Pressure?
Try to chill—it’s not all bad news. High blood pressure happens to be one of easiest health conditions to fix through lifestyle changes like diet and exercise.
How to lower high blood pressure
Lowering high blood pressure is just as important for women as it is for men — so why does most of the news you see about how to lower high blood pressure focus on men?
Hypertension: A Lifestyle Disorder Needs a Lifetime of Attention
The term “lifestyle disorder” had to be invented to describe hypertension. Almost no aspect of daily life — diet, sleep, exercise, work and stress — can be implicated. Your blood pressure responds to these things quite sensitively. This implies an optimistic attitude, because for many sufferers, a change in lifestyle serves as good prevention. But optimism is lost if lifestyle changes are not kept up for a lifetime.
Most People Who Take Blood Pressure Medication Possibly Shouldn’t
An independent analysis finds no real benefit for people with mild hypertension.
Nearly Half of U.S. Adults Have High Blood Pressure Under New Guidelines
Most of the people considered newly hypertensive—largely younger Americans—would be urged to eat healthier and exercise more rather than take medicine, according to the guidelines, published by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.
One more reason not to binge on black licorice, the most divisive candy
Licorice root contains a medically active compound called glycyrrhizin acid, and researchers have been discussing its potential health complications for years. Glycyrrhizin can elevate a person’s blood pressure, leading some to experience abnormal heart rhythms, lethargy, even congestive heart failure. Glycyrrhizin can also interfere with other medications and supplements, the FDA warned.
Pills or Paleo? Reversing High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is the single most important risk factor for premature death, and 9 in 10 Americans are expected to develop it by age 65. Yet medications are often ineffective, and can cause significant side effects. Find out how a Paleo diet and lifestyle can help you reverse high blood pressure naturally.
Should Your Blood Pressure Be Lowered to 120?
I believe aiming for 120 or lower in everyone is wrong. For some it will do harm. Here are my reflections about the study.
Stroke - Can We Turn It Around?
Not only is stroke incidence increasing but there is usually no effective treatment. In the meantime controlling the risk factors of high blood pressure, diabetes and weight may help decrease your risk
The Most Common Blood Pressure Test Is Often Inaccurate
A misdiagnosis of high blood pressure could lead to people being prescribed unnecessary medication.
What is the best exercise to control high blood pressure?
Take your pick, as the best exercise to control high blood pressure seems to be virtually any exercise, like walking or cycling or light weight training, especially if your workouts are spread throughout the day.
What Patients Say Works for Hypertension
Some of the most popular treatments for hypertension are not necessarily the most effective, according to a new study by CureTogether, a free resource owned by 23andMe that allows people to share information about their health and treatments.
When to Worry about Your Blood Pressure
130/80 is the new high blood pressure threshold. What should your personal blood pressure goal be and when should you worry?
Why So Many of Us Die of Heart Disease
Evolution doomed us to have vital organs fail. For years, experts failed us, too.
Women Are More Likely to Address High Blood Pressure
According to Dr. Peter Muennig, a professor of health policy and management at Columbia University who was not involved in the report, younger men take more risks than women in general. Although men are diagnosed with hypertension at similar rates, they are less likely to take the necessary medication.
Odds Are, They're Taking Your Blood Pressure All Wrong
When was the last time you were asked to sit without saying a word for five minutes before your blood pressure was measured? If your answer was "I never remember doing that," you're in good company. Yet that is one of the many rules that medical professionals are supposed to follow when measuring your blood pressure.
Why New Blood Pressure Guidelines Could Lead to Harm
The potential upside from this change is that because of “awareness,” more people might make lifestyle changes that lead to lower cardiovascular risk in the future. The potential downside is that more people may receive a diagnosis of high blood pressure, be overtreated with medication, and endure side effects or adverse outcomes. It’s not irrational to fear that these new guidelines might lead to more of the latter than the former.
7 Surprising Causes Of High Blood Pressure
Quick -– what causes high blood pressure? The first culprits that pop into your mind are likely to be: eating too much salt, being stressed out all the time, and alcohol abuse. And you would be right. But there are also less obvious causes of high blood pressure, a condition that affects about one in three, or 78 million, adults in the U.S.
Target: BP
Target: BP™ is a national initiative formed by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) in response to the high prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure (BP). Target: BP helps health care organizations and care teams, at no cost, improve BP control rates through an evidence-based quality improvement program and recognizes organizations committed to improving BP control.
High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia
The High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia has been at the forefront of research into the causes, prevention and treatment of high blood pressure since its inception in 1979. Our research incorporates the full range from experimental molecular biology and genetics to human physiology and drug treatment of hypertension.
DASH diet
Developed by the National Institutes of Health in 1996, the DASH diet is an eating plan designed to help people lower their blood pressure and avoid medications.
HeartPoint
The heart pumps blood containing oxygen and other nutrients through the arteries to the rest of the body. Blood "pressure" is the force exerted on the arteries by the blood passing through them. It is determined by how much resistance there is in the arteries, and is not a measure of how "strong" the heart muscle is.
Texas Heart Institute
Hypertension, the medical term for high blood pressure, is known as "the silent killer." At least 72 million Americans have high blood pressure, and as many as 20 million of them do not even know they have the condition. If left untreated, high blood pressure greatly increases your risk for heart attack and stroke.
CDC
High blood pressure is sometimes called the silent killer because it usually has no noticeable warning signs or symptoms until other serious problems arise; therefore, many people do not know that they have it. All persons, including children, can develop high blood pressure.
MedicineNet
High blood pressure (hypertension) means high pressure or tension in the arteries. The arteries are the vessels that carry blood from the pumping heart to all of the tissues and organs of the body. Chronic high blood pressure is a "silent" condition. It can cause blood vessel changes in the back of the eye (retina), abnormal thickening of the heart muscle, kidney failure, and brain damage.
Merck Manual
To many people, the word hypertension suggests excessive tension, nervousness, or stress. In medical terms, hypertension refers to high blood pressure, regardless of the cause. Because it usually does not cause symptoms for many years''until a vital organ is damaged''it has been called "the silent killer." Uncontrolled high blood pressure increases the risk of problems such as stroke, aneurysm, heart failure, heart attack, and kidney damage.
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