Monitoring Your Blood Pressure Could Literally Save Your Life
High blood pressure, which is also known as hypertension, has been given the nickname of the ’silent killer’. High blood pressure can be a fatal condition that develops gradually over a long period of time and the majority of people do not experience any signs or symptoms of the condition at all. As a consequence of its lack of signs and symptoms, high blood pressure frequently goes undiagnosed and untreated.
In the United States it was estimated that approximately 50 million adults suffered from hypertension in the early 1990’s. This figure has been on the rise ever since. By the beginning of the 21st century, it was estimated that about 65 million people had high blood pressure and today that number has topped 72 million. This figure means that approximately one out of every three adults in the US now suffers from high blood pressure.
Here are just some of the things revealed by recent studies:
30% of high blood pressure sufferers are not aware of their condition and are consequently not receiving any treatment for it.
15% of the people know that they have high blood pressure but either they are not getting any treatment for it or they do not bother to follow the recommended treatment.
25% of the people are aware that they have hypertension but they do not have their blood pressure under control.
All of this means that about only 30% of the people with hypertension are currently receiving the correct treatment for their hypertension and have it under control.
Despite the fact that it is frequently said that it is impossible to tell if a person has high blood pressure there are a number of tell-tale signs which could indicate the possibility of hypertension and these include such things as dizziness, headaches, blurred vision and nausea.
High blood pressure is one of the main causes of death in the United States today and it also considerably increases the risk from several life threatening conditions like heart attack, heart failure, cardiovascular disease and kidney failure.
Because of the nature of this condition it is a good idea to keep an eye on things by monitoring your blood pressure regularly and this can be done by simply visiting your doctor’s office and asking for a blood pressure check. This is not however all that convenient and so a better option today is to simply monitor your own pressure at home. There are a variety of monitors available today for use at home which are both quick and easy to use and are also relatively inexpensive.
Having your own blood pressure monitor means that you can keep an eye on blood pressure for the whole family and will give you considerable peace of mind and allow you to pick up any developing problems at a stage at which they can be easily treated.
