HBP Awareness Month

The month of May has a number of holidays and national observances. Mother’s Day is this Sunday, next Saturday is Armed Forces Day, the last Monday is always Memorial Day but did you know the whole month of May is High Blood Pressure Awareness Month?

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a disease. Generally showing no symptoms it’s sometimes referred to as “the silent killer”. Without symptoms you may not even realize you have high blood pressure while in the meantime it could be wreaking havoc on your arteries, heart and other organs.

If you do suffer from high blood pressure it’s important that you take your blood pressure regularly to monitor your numbers as well as keep up a healthy and active lifestyle. Your personal life choices can make a huge difference in your quality of life.

If you should ever experience a hypertensive crisis, when blood pressure reaches levels of 180 or higher for the systolic (top) number or 110 or higher for the diastolic (bottom) number, it’s imperative that you call emergency medical services immediately or get to a hospital. Uncontrolled blood pressure in this range could lead to a stroke, heart attack, blood vessel damage, loss of kidney function, etc.

Assess your high blood pressure risks with the American Heart Association’s High Blood Pressure Health Risk Calculator.

Source: americanheart.org