Improvement in high blood pressure (hypertension) awareness in the last 20 years has reduced the death rate from coronary artery disease (heart attacks) and the incidence of stroke in half. However, hypertension continues to be the leading cause of stroke, kidney vascular disease, congestive heart failure, and heart attack. Despite a 14% reduction in hypertension between 1980 and 1991, about 50 million Americans continue to have blood pressures that put them at risk for cardiovascular disease. Another 30 million have "high normal" blood pressures that put them at risk of definite hypertension.

High blood pressure is based on the average of 3 or more readings taken over several weeks. Normal blood pressure is defined as 130/85 and high normal as 130-130/85-89. Stage I hypertension is defined as 140-159/90-99 and should be rechecked in 2 months. Stage II as 160-179/100-109 and should be evaluated within a month. Stage III as 180-209/110-119 should be evaluated within a week. Stage IV is 210/120 and should be evaluated immediately. Hypertension is rarely the only risk factor for coronary artery disease and is usually accompanied by others such as excessive weight, elevated cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and kidney disease. High blood pressure if untreated can lead to end organ damage such as an enlarged heart and kidney failure. The goal of treatment is to reduce the risk of coronary artery disease and end organ damage.

Lifestyle modification alone can significantly improve blood pressure especially weight loss. A 10 to 15 pound loss can lower blood pressure 10 to 15 points. Because many blood pressure medications have significant side effects including headache, dizziness, fatigue, and loss of sex drive or impotence, making lifestyle changes to lower blood pressure can help many patients avoid the vicious cycle of disease-treatment-side effect-more medication to treat side effect-more side effects, etc. Also, because many hospitalizations occur because of medication use or misuse and because hypertension often requires multiple medications to control, making lifestyle changes early in diagnosis can greatly improve the patient's quality of life and lifespan.

TAOS PHARMACY CAN HELP YOU CONTROL YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE. WE HAVE STAFF TRAINED TO PROPERLY CHECK YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE, WE SELL BLOOD PRESSURE MONITORS TO HELP YOU MONITOR REGULARLY AT HOME, AND WE PROVIDE WEIGHT MANAGEMENT, SMOKING CESSATION, AND DIABETES CONSULTATIONS.

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