Realizing that Prehypertension Isn t Benign in .NET framework

Creator QR Code ISO/IEC18004 in .NET framework Realizing that Prehypertension Isn t Benign

Is prehypertension (see 2) harmless as long as it doesn t develop into high blood pressure Unfortunately, a study by George Washington University in the February 2007 journal Circulation indicates that lifestyle changes are necessary even if your prehypertension never becomes high blood pressure (See Part III for these changes) This study followed 60,785 postmenopausal women for 77 years The percentages of women who had prehypertension at the beginning of the study were as follows: Caucasian, 395 percent; African American, 321 percent; Hispanic, 426 percent; American Indian, 387 percent; Asian, 403 percent At the end of the study: The women with prehypertension were about twice as likely to have a heart attack or a stroke compared with the women who did not have prehypertension The women with prehypertension were about one and a half times more likely to die of heart disease than women who didn t have prehypertension

Note: The Hispanic and Asian women had very few of these events compared to the others The conclusion Prehypertension is common, and it is associated with increased heart attacks, strokes, and death due to heart attacks ( 5 has more information on heart attacks; 7 has more on strokes)

Can you control some risk factors that predict high blood pressure A study reported in the March 2007 Journal of Hypertension attempted to answer this important question by tracking 10,525 Chinese adults over an eight-year period By the end of the study, 29 percent of the men and 27 percent of the women had developed high blood pressure The men had several factors that predicted the onset of high blood pressure, including Being older Living in cities Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol Having less physical activity Women were different in several respects: Women who smoked were more likely to have high blood pressure than those who drank Women living in rural areas were more likely to have high blood pressure than city women The key result of this study is that nearly 50 percent of risk factors that lead to high blood pressure are modifiable (see 3 for additional info on other risk factors) Another important lesson in prevention is in the April 2007 American Journal of Public Health A study looked at the physical activity in young adults and the occurrence of high blood pressure over 15 years Almost 4,000 young black and white men and women aged 18 to 30 years without high blood pressure were examined at the beginning of the study and then 2, 5, 7, 10, and 15 years later Blood pressure and physical activity were recorded each time After 15 years, 634 of them (16 percent) had high blood pressure The people who did limited physical activity were much more likely to have high blood pressure than those who did regular physical exercise

If you want to help your child avoid high blood pressure later in life, set an example by doing some physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day, and take your child along See 15 for more information

Can you predict an adult s high blood pressure by measuring her blood pressure in early childhood One study s answer (in the February 2007 Pediatrics) is Yes The study tracked the blood pressure of 240 men and 253 women for decades, beginning at age 5 The results were the following: If a single measurement of systolic but not diastolic blood pressure exceeded the desirable levels when they were children, the probability that they would have high blood pressure as adults increased four to five times The more times the blood pressure exceeded that range, the more likely they would have high blood pressure later in life The study clearly showed that children with blood pressures above the level suggested in this paper could expect to have high blood pressure later But these findings don t mean you re doomed Try to alter all the modifiable risk factors like diet, exercise, meditation, alcohol, and smoking (as I explain in Part III) You ll be glad you did