Bullet Proof on High Blood Pressure
- High blood pressure is a silent killer. You don’t feel it. You can’t taste it or smell it. It makes no sound. Yet it is the precursor to heart disease, stroke, and dozens of other ailments with names too big to mention here.
- Black men are more likely to develop hypertension than any other group. And they are the group mostly likely to die from the disease.
- According to WebMD being black is a risk factor for hypertension. Other risk factors include being overweight, smoking, family history, not exercising and diabetes.
- The connection between diabetes and high blood pressure and being black is startling.
- In 2004 of 100,000 of the population black men died at a rate of 18.4 compared to 7.8 for white men. That tells us that black men need to be more diligent than others about controlling the disease.
- We don’t really need the statistics. We know the people who hypertension has taken from us. We know the people who now have a lesser quality of life because of out of control blood pressure. They are our family members and friends. It’s personal for us, yet and still black men need to take action and work on preventing this ailment through diet and exercise. And if they already have it they need to manage it.
- Take the medication. Visit the doctor. Stay alive for your children’s sake.
Here are some national statistics for all US adults to consider:
- About one out of three U.S. adults—31.3%—has high blood pressure.1
- High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and kidney disease.
- High blood pressure was listed as a primary or contributing cause of death for 326,000 Americans in 2006.2
- In 2010, high blood pressure will cost the United States $76.6 billion in health care services, medications, and missed days of work.2
- About 70% of those with high blood pressure and took medication had their high blood pressure controlled. The control rate was 46.6% among all hypertensive patients.
- 25% of American adults has prehypertension—blood pressure numbers that are higher than normal, but not yet in the high blood pressure range.2 Prehypertension raises your risk for high blood pressure.