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Heart failure and high blood pressure
Untreated high blood pressure, or hypertension, can lead to an enlarged heart and heart failure. In addition, hypertension is a risk factor for heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, kidney disease, and hemorrhages in the blood vessels of the eye.
If you are "prehypertensive" or have high blood pressure you will need to:
- Eat foods low in fat and salt, and rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products
- Lose weight if you are overweight
- Limit your intake of alcohol
- Exercise regularly
- Quit smoking
- Take high blood pressure medicine if your doctor prescribes it. There are several types of medications for treating high blood pressure. Your physician will base your therapy on blood pressure readings and your other medical conditions. Medications must be taken regularly and in the correct dosage; studies show that blood pressure drugs are the most ignored of all prescribed medications. How important is it to get your blood pressure numbers down? The Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC7) noted in its recent report that 55-year-old individuals with blood pressure of 115/75 mm double their risk of developing cardiovascular disease with every rise of 20 mm in systolic pressure and 10 mm in diastolic pressure. You can learn more about the JNC7 guidelines at: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/index.html
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