High blood pressure (HBP or hypertension)…it’s known as “the silent killer” for a very good reason…the absence of clear signals that would alert one to the potential for heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. And it’s not an uncommon disease…the CDC estimates that one in three adults in the U.S. are afflicted with it, and some sources estimate that high blood pressure is the cause of 60,000 fatalities each year in this country.

HBP’s stealthiness is what makes the disease so alarming for so many people. The damage it can cause only becomes evident after the fact…that is, after significant damage has been done to the heart and arteries…and you may not have had a warning or received any signals from your body to alert you to the damage being done. Based on the widespread prevalence of this condition, it’s one of the scariest things we face these days.

So what do you do about it? Well, the first thing is to know your blood pressure numbers. When you visit your primary health care provider for a check-up, you’ll learn about your blood pressure reading at that point in time, but do you really understand what the numbers mean? An article produced by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) will help you gain insight into the readings, so it would worth a few minutes to check it out so you know how to react to the reading you receive. Here’s a link to the article.

And if you’re interested in finding out more on the overall blood pressure issue, here are a few additional websites offering insights, including a healthy eating plan from the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES’ National Institutes of Health and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute:

https://www.onhealth.com/content/1/high_blood_pressure_-_a_silent_killer

http://www.secondscount.org/treatments/treatments-detail-2/high-blood-pressure–your-health-managing-silent-k-2#.XlbPgmhKiM8

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/heart/new_dash.pdf