We have often written about high blood pressure (hypertension), and its importance. It has now been deemed to be even more important!
The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association have just announced new guidelines. The “long-standing threshold of 140/90 mm Hg to a blood pressure at or above 130/80 mm Hg, a change that jumps the U.S. adult prevalence of hypertension from roughly 32% to 46%”.
This change indicates that nearly half the U.S. population is now hypertensive, and this translates to a staggering number of 103 million Americans!
Does this mean everyone needs to increase their blood pressure medication? Well, not really, it means you need to change your lifestyle and get your BP down. Medication does not mean you are not hypertensive, it simply means you are correcting it through medication. You are still considered to have high blood pressure.
Here are six lifestyle goals for controlling your BP: Weight loss, diet, reduce sodium (salt) enhancing potassium, physical activity and moderate alcohol intake.
And remember the First Care pledge…. walk into our walk in clinic in Naples at any time, get your free BP check and be out the door in five minutes.