Blood Pressure: The Silent Killer
By CocoaDiva on Jul 10, 2008 with Comments
Girl…whats your number. Brotha here’s my number…whats yours?
No P.O.S.H. isnt trying to holla, holla, holla atcha. We need to educate ourselves on the silent killer called blood pressure.
Blood pressure is how your blood is circulated through your blood vessels and is one of the principal vital signs. Your blood pressure is directly affected by stress , nutritional factors, drug use, or disease.
High blood pressure is also referred to as hypertension. High blood pressure directly increases your chances of having a heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney disease, and other life-threatening illnesses. Pre hypertension begins at 120-29 over 80-89. High blood pressure begins at 140/90.
Optimal blood pressure for a healthy American is 120 over 80; however the average American’s blood pressure is 130 over 85 and the average American dies of a heart attack. Your mamma told you not to be average. Here is why.
Little known fact:
African-Americans have higher blood pressure because when Africans were taken as slaves across the Middle Passage, the African Americans who survived were the ones who could hold more salt in their bodies. Those who perished were those who could not hold that high salt content in their bodies.
So the very thing which “saved us” is now causing our deaths. African Americans are most likely to develop high blood pressure than any other racial or ethnic group.
- 35% of African Americans have hypertension, which accounts for 20% of the African American deaths in the United States – twice the percentage of deaths among whites from hypertension.
- Young black women are more susceptible to high blood pressure than young white women. Over half of blood pressure and heart disease cases occur with women patients.
- Young black men are less likely to believe they suffer from high blood pressure and receive treatment.
- Black men were less likely to have a regular doctor, and they are four to five times more likely to say they have no doctor because they do not need one.
For African Americans, high blood pressure:
Tends to be more common and more severe
Happens at an earlier age
Is a leading cause of death for people with type 2 diabetes
Is the major reason why African Americans are 8 times more
likely to develop kidney failure than Caucasians
Is a major reason why African Americans die at an earlier age
Anyone can have high blood pressure. Its not an elderly disease. However, the likelihood of developing high blood pressure increases if you are overweight or have diabetes. You don’t have to appear to be overweight to have high blood pressure. Some of the skinniest people have the worst BMIs (body mass index= carrying too much fat for your build). Too much fat can lead to high blood pressure.
Now after scaring the mess out of you. Good news.
High blood pressure can be prevented and controlled.
9 Tips to help you control or prevent high blood pressure:
1. Lose weight- if you are overweight and maintain a healthy weight. Limit portion sizes, especially of high calorie foods, and try to eat only as many calories as you burn each day—or less if you want to lose weight. Back away from the table with your hands up!!
2. Love those good for you foods. Follow an eating plan that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and low fat dairy products and is moderate in total fat and low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Veggies are great!!
3. Salt is not your friend. Read food labels to choose canned, processed, and convenience foods that are lower in sodium. Limit sodium intake to no more than 2400 mg, or about 1
teaspoon’s worth, of salt each day. Avoid fast foods that are high in salt and sodium.
4. Put the drinks down -If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation. For men, that means a maximum of 2 drinks a day, for women, a maximum of 1.
5. Become more physically active. Work up to at least 30 minutes of a moderate-level activity, such as brisk walking or bicycling, each day. If you don’t have 30 minutes, try to find 2 15-minute periods or even 3 10-minute periods for physical activity.
6. Quit smoking. Smoking increases your chances of developing a stroke, heart disease, peripheral arterial disease, and several forms of cancer.
7. If you are pregnant, make sure you are under a doctor’s care. High blood pressure is a major cause of complications in pregnancy.
8. Doctors are not scary- Ask what your blood pressure numbers are and what they mean.
9. Take medication as prescribed. If you need medication, make sure you understand what it’s for and how
Know your number and do something about it before its too late.
Facts found at http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/mission/partner/african_americans.pdf
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Filed Under: Fitness Tips • Fitness and Health
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Kyle
