HEALTHY REASONING: High Blood Pressure Is Dangerous

By Allan Bucka Jones
Pride Health Columnist

Your heart pumps blood. Blood pressure is the force of blood against your blood vessels as it circulates. This force is necessary to make the blood flow, delivering nutrients and oxygen throughout your body.

High blood pressure, also called hypertension, means there is too much pressure in your blood vessels. This can damage your blood vessels and cause health problems. Anyone can develop high blood pressure, but it becomes more common as you get older.

High blood pressure is dangerous. Without treatment, high blood pressure can cause death. You can have high blood pressure and not know. It is a silent killer. Persistent high blood pressure is one of the risk factors for strokes, heart attacks, heart failure and arterial aneurysm, diabetes, eye disease and is the leading cause of chronic kidney failure. High blood pressure occurs when the force of blood against the walls of the blood vessels is too high.

High blood pressure or hypertension is a medical condition in which the blood pressure is chronically elevated. In Canada, there are approximately 7.4 million Canadians living with high blood pressure, but it is estimated that more than 2 million Canadians are not even aware that they have high blood pressure.

The government of Canada does not collect health data by race or ethnicity, so it is not possible to give a definite number for Black Canadians in Canada with high blood pressure. However, the United Kingdom and the United States, collect health statistics on the significant numbers of Black people living there. Here is some information collected which is useful for Blacks living in Canada:

– African Americans and people of African descent in the United Kingdom have among the highest rates of high blood pressure of any race or ethnic type in the world.

–  Thirty-five percent of African Americans have high blood pressure. This accounts for 20% of the African American deaths in the United States, which is two times greater than the percentage of deaths among whites from high blood pressure.

–  Compared with whites, high blood pressure develops earlier in life, and average blood pressures are much higher in African Americans.

–  African Americans with high blood pressure have an 80% higher chance of dying from a stroke than in the general population.

–  African Americans with high blood pressure have a 20% higher chance of developing heart disease than in the general population.

–  African Americans with high blood pressure have a 4 times greater risk of developing hypertension related end stage kidney disease than the general population.

High blood pressure is usually detected by a family doctor, nurse or other healthcare professional during a routine checkup. According to the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, normal blood pressure is between 120/80 and 129/84. Blood pressure that is consistently more than 140/90 when measured in the doctor’s office or 135/85 when measured at home, is considered high. If you have diabetes, 140/90 is high. If your blood pressure is between 130/85 and 139/89, you have “high-normal” blood pressure, which is likely to develop into high blood pressure. In isolation, high blood pressure usually produce no symptoms, but some people report headaches, fatigue, dizziness, blurred vision, facial flushing or ringing in the ear.

Risk factors for high blood pressure include race, too much salt in your diet, excess weight, lack of exercise, getting older, smoking, stress, low potassium intake, excessive alcohol and family history. Certain chronic conditions, including high cholesterol, diabetes, kidney disease and sleep apnea, also increase your risk of high blood pressure. Sometimes pregnancy contributes to high blood pressure.

If you are an adult and do not know your blood pressure measurement, ask your family doctor to do a measurement when next you visit him or her. If you are found to have high blood pressure, your doctor will institute measures, lifestyle adjustments and/or medications to keep your blood pressure under control. It is a good routine to have your blood pressure checked every time you visit your family doctor, or monitor your pressure at home if you have a meter, or do it at your local pharmacy.

High blood pressure is no joking matter. It is dangerous, but can be controlled…talk to your doctor.

Allan Bucka Jones is a Health Promoter and Broadcaster. He can be heard on “Allan Bucka Jones LIVE”, Sundays from 3 to 5pm on CHRY 105.5 FM, www.chry.fm option RDO.to , Rogers Digital Cable 945, Bell Fibe 973 or mobile app TuneIn Radio. You can contact Allan Bucka Jones at ajones@jjmedical.ca.