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High-blood
pressure otherwise known as hypertension is a major health
problem in the United States and especially among blacks.
Not only are the risks higher, but so is the likelihood of
developing it at a younger age and its severity. In order
to deal with this problem, people must know the risk factors
and if they do have hypertension, that they lower their blood
pressure.
Any time your heart pumps it exerts a force against your
vessels known as blood pressure. When your heart contracts
(systolic blood pressure), your blood pressure is highest
and this force lowers when your heart rests (diastolic pressure).
These two types of pressure are measured side-by-side or
one on top of the other with systolic coming first. The
normal ratio is 120/80 and if it comes out to be 140+/90+,
then you have hypertension. When your blood pressure is
high, your heart must work harder to pump blood throughout
the body. This over usage of the heart may cause, stroke,
heart attack (death of cardiac tissue), eye and kidney problems
and even death. This is why research is discovering that
Africans have a high risk for heart attack and stroke.
A stroke occurs when blood stops flowing to the brain. When
this happens, some of the brain tissue dies causing the
person to pass out. Depending on what part of the brain
is affected, an individual overcome by a stroke may become
mentally impaired or die. Since strokes causes many deaths
each year, it is good to know the warning signs. Things
to look out for are sudden numbness in face, limb especially
if in one side of the body, confusion and trouble understanding
and speaking, difficulty seeing with at least one eye, dizziness,
loss of balance or coordination, and a sudden severe headache.
A dangerous aspect of hypertension is that someone can feel
healthy and still have it, and though there are rarely any
symptoms, though a nurse told me that headaches are associated
with this problem. So the most that you can do to find out
that you have high blood pressure is through a doctor and
blood pressure monitor. However, as we get older, our blood
pressure slowly begins to rise. So any negative lifestyles
such as overconsumption of calories and/or alcohol, diets
low in potassium and high in salt, inactivity, genetics,
and high normal blood pressure could speed up this process.
People with hypertension can lower their blood pressure
by changing the types of food that they eat, exercising
and taking medication. To make sure that progress is being
made, they can purchase a blood pressure monitor so that
they can measure their pressure at their own homes.
 Though
many people in the United States suffer from high-blood
pressure, there are many ways to reduce your risks. One
way is to replace last fatty foods with types that are beneficial
to the heart particularly those rich in potassium, calcium,
magnesium, and protein. Some good foods to eat are fruit,
vegetables, whole grains, skinless chicken, fish, and so
that you have a low intake of trans and saturated fat and
cholesterol. If you smoke or drink do not consume alcohol
heavily and quit smoking. For those who are overweight,
shedding pounds lowers the amount of work that the heart
has to do, and you should exercise regularly, and learn
how to manage stress. Medication that is taken are antihypertensives
which lower blood pressure, diuretics that rids the body
of extra fluid and sodium, and beta blockers (these reduce
heart rate and its output of blood). Someone my family who
has hypertension told me she takes all three medications
and is told to eat lots of vegetables, avoid salt and not
to drink soda. When I asked a nurse about some medicines
that often used are she said, “ Some that commonly
used medications are the brands Norvasc and Procardia, and
also some made of a solution containing hydrochloric acid.”
In order for the number of black people with hypertension
and related disorders to decrease more awareness must be
brought to the community. We hear all the time that high
blood pressure is bad from health officials yet many people
are not taking this seriously. More African American families
should help their children understand that eating unhealthy
food in excessive amounts can cause serious damage to their
bodies.
By doing this they will influence their children to eat
more healthy. It’s okay to eat junk food but some
people eat it to excess. Children could easily have a more
balanced diet if given food like rice, leafed vegetables
along with a food that may be high in calories. By doing
this they do not have to give up the food hat they like,
but instead can eat it alongside food like collard greens,
cabbage, string beans, rice and salad. Parents would have
to eat similarly too so that their children will adopt their
habits at a young age. By doing so, less blacks will suffer
from hypertension.
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