High Blood Pressure
One out of the four of you in this classroom will have it. It affects 50 million Americans and nearly half are women. There are no symptoms to this disease. Many people have it for years without knowing it. This is why high blood pressure is also called the "silent killer." Uncontrollable high blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure or kidney failure. As a 3rd level nursing student I have had firsthand experience with patients who have high blood pressure also known as hypertension. Today I would like to talk about what is high blood pressure, risk factors, prevention, and disease progression. Let's start with the definition of high blood pressure also known as hypertension.While you are sitting in your seats you are probably wondering if you are at risk for high blood pressure. According to the American Heart Association, if you're an adult and your blood pressure is higher than 140/90, you have high blood pressu
African Americans develop high blood pressure more often than Caucasians. Controllable risk factors are those that increase your chances of developing high blood pressure, but you have the ability to modify them. Smoking and birth control pills constricts or narrows your blood vessels also making your heart work harder. Now let's talk about 2 categories of risk factors, controllable and uncontrollable. Blood pressure is the force in the arteries when the heart beats (systolic pressure) and when the heart is at rest (diastolic pressure). Whether you know someone or you yourself meets some or all of these risk factors, think about the effects if you let it go untreated. Next I will talk about the uncontrollable risk factors, which you are not able to modify. If you have parents or any blood relatives who have high blood pressure, you're more likely to develop it. Third is drinking too much alcohol. One single reading doesn't mean you have high blood pressure, but it's a sign that you should watch it carefully. High blood pressure can occur in children and adults, but more commonly in people over 35.
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