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Show BP: the silent killer High blood pressure doesn't hurt, but it can kill. Nowadays, most people know something about the consequences of untreated un-treated high blood pressure, yet only 11 per cent of all patients diagnosed with the disease control it through medication and lifestyle changes. It's a national game of Russian roulette and a monumental health problem. New statistics indicate that as many as 58 million Americans may have hypertension. Blood pressure is simply the force of blood against the walls of the blood vessels. This pressure is. created by the heart as it pumps blood to every part of the body. When the small arteries that regulate blood pressure contract, or when they get hardened or narrowed, the heart has to pump that much harder to push blood through. That causes blood pressure to increase. If allowed to continue uncontrolled, uncon-trolled, hypertension can lead to heart disease, kidney failure, stroke, or blind ness. Why then do so many people choose to ignore this silent killer? With most illnesses, some sort of pain or discomfort prompts the patient to seek medical help. When a prescription is written, writ-ten, the patient is happy to take the medication to get relief. With high blood pressure it is often the other way around. The patient generally feels well and has virtually no symptoms. In the past, when a new patient was put on medication to lower blood pressure, the person often felt worse because of drug side effects such as fatigue. Many patients just stopped taking the drug. Now there is good news for people whe may. have had trouble with traditions blood pressure medications. New drugs are on the pharmacy shelf, or will soon be available, that lower blood pressure without some of the side effects of older medications. |