Americans Need To Tame High Blood Pressure

Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : June 2, 2021

High blood pressure is the world’s leading killer disease and continues to kill more people, including more young people, yearly than Covid-19. the effect of the disease is so high that in recent years it kills more than all other infections combined. High blood pressure can be prevented by reducing sodium and maintaining an active physical life., and effectively treated with safe, low-cost medications.

Americans Need To Tame High Blood Pressure

However, globally, we’re doing terribly on blood pressure control. A very minimal percentage of people with high blood pressure have controlled it. Health studies indicate that with every 20 point increase in the systolic figure, the danger of the disease doubles. What’s more, this starts at a blood pressure of 115/75 — way below the usual level at which we treat, or toward which we aim treatment.

Americans Need To Tame High Blood Pressure

But showing that lower is better didn’t prove that lowering more is better. The study was aimed to show that lower blood pressure will reduce the number of deaths and that a lower figure of blood pressure is better for health

Lower blood pressure reduces the risk of death, but how low do we need to go? That’s what’s big news about the results from the study that were just released. They prove that lower IS better — and that setting a blood pressure goal lower than the standard treatment goal prevented many more deaths.

The study additionally showed that, despite additional aspect effects (far less dangerous than coronary failure or stroke), intensive vital sign treatment to achieve the lower vital sign goal is safe — even for older folks. The additional intensive treatment prevented additional heart attacks, strokes, and deaths.

Based on the study, several tips area units currently suggest that sure speculative patients with high vital signs aim for a heartbeat vital sign below one hundred thirty instead of the quality target of a hundred and forty. aimed for a good lower target of 120/80.)

But the larger implication: we want to try far better at obtaining folks to below 140/90. For years, doctors were afraid to lower their patients’ blood pressures to levels they thought would be too low and probably dangerous. Now, it’s proved that “overshooting” the goal of 140/90 is not only one thing that will not hurt the patient — it might well save their life.

The death rate among folks treated with a vital sign goal of below 120/80 was twenty-seventh less than the death rate of individuals treated to the same old target of 140/90. And for each death prevented, regarding two heart attacks area unit prevented additionally to strokes, nephropathy, dementia, and more.

Now, it is also true that interventions aside from medication will be vital. Reducing atomic number 11, particularly, will cut back vital signs and alternative health harms from our too salty diet. Obtaining regular physical activity, feeding a healthier diet overall, reducing pollution, and additional will create a giant distinction. However, these interventions are unit best done on a social group, community-wide basis.

That’s why, though we should always empower and inform patients, we have a tendency to should not expect them to be able to stand up to t, salty, sedentary, contaminated surroundings we tend to sleep in. And even though we tend to might as if by magic improve our food and overall surroundings, there would still be a billion folks within the world in want of medicines to treat their high blood pressure. 

Why area unit we tend to fail to regulate high blood pressure? One reason is that we’ve created treatment too sophisticated — much more sophisticated than it has to be for optimum results. For the past four years, there has been a resolve to save lots of lives.


Nikki Attkisson

With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.

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