High blood pressure is a silent and prolific killer
Essential hypertension is actually anything but essential. It causes or contributes to hundreds of thousands of deaths in the United States each year.
High blood pressure, as it’s better known, is on the rise in our country. This form of hypertension is common in almost 95 percent of our population. It can come about genetically or due to the environmental and lifestyle factors such as obesity, lack of physical activity, increased sodium consumption and alcohol consumption.
Conditions such as kidney failure, hormone imbalance and medication use can also result in having high blood pressure. Any of these aforementioned risk factors warrants follow-up with a physician.
Dr. Vachaspathi Palakodeti, cardiologist at El Centro Regional Medical Center, describes high blood pressure as a silent killer. “Elevated blood pressure is silent and does not cause symptoms until there is damage to the organs in the body, and this emphasizes the importance of regular medical checkups,” he said.
As the obesity rate continues to rise here in the Imperial Valley, the risk of high blood pressure is beginning to target the younger population.
“Obesity and diabetes rates are higher in Imperial Valley compared to rest of California, and this directly contributes to increased hypertension,” Palakodeti said.
The Centers for Disease Control has reported that 1.3 million teenagers ranging from 12 to 19 currently have hypertension. This is an equivalent to 4 percent of the population. The CDC also reported that about 10 percent of these teens have elevated blood pressure, previously known as prehypertension. Seventy percent of people who have their first heart attack also have high blood pressure.
High blood pressure increases the risk of dying from a stroke by four times and dying from heart disease by three, Palakodeti said.
“Education on risks and diagnosis of hypertension needs to start in the classroom, at work places and in the public domain, not just in doctor offices or hospitals,” he said.
It is important for children and adults to keep up with their annual checkups. In addition there needs to be an emphasis on diet, exercise and weight reduction, as they play an important role for controlling blood pressure,” he said. “Based on data from Joint National Committee on hypertension, reducing a person’s weight to the normal body weight BMI of 19 to 25 in a person who is overweight brings the blood pressure down by about approximately 10 mmHg for 10 kilograms of weight loss,” Palakodeti said.
For those in need of help reducing or preventing high blood pressure Dr. Palakodeti recommends to adopt the DASH eating plan. Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension is a diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables and lowfat dairy products. The diet has a low sodium and fat intake, which is said to decrease blood pressure by approximately 10 mmHg (millimeters of Mercury — a measure of pressure).
The diet is just one factor to help reduce blood pressure. To continue to reduce risk factors one can also exercise. Palakodeti said exercising 30 minutes per day can help reduce blood pressure by 5 to 9 mmHg.