Encountering someone or something with the intention to kill you is scary enough.
Just imagine being killed by something that you can’t see, hear or touch.
That, experts say, is exactly what hypertension is doing to millions of people – and they don’t even know it.
Many individuals are caught off-guard by hypertension, more commonly known as high blood pressure. It doesn’t produce noticeable symptoms, such as the searing pain caused by coronary heart disease, or the shortness of breath from asthma.
“That is why it is often called a ‘silent killer’ or ‘slow death,’” said Dr. Akin Akinwande, a cardiologist and medical director of Pinnacle Heart Specialists in Indianapolis. “High blood pressure is not something that you can easily look at and say, ‘My blood pressure is doing this.’”
Experts warn that greater awareness is urgently needed to prevent hypertension from becoming a health crisis among African-Americans. It has already reached alarming levels among minorities.
About one in three adults in the United States – an estimated 68 million people – has high blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, Blacks develop high blood pressure more often, and at an earlier age, than white and Latino Americans. Forty-three percent of Black men, and 45 percent of Black women, have hypertension.
Research by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of Minority Health has shown that African-American adults are 40 percent more likely to have high blood pressure than others, and 30 percent more likely to die from its complications.
“High blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease in general, is the No. 1 killer in America, and African-Americans are disproportionately affected,” Akinwande said.
Studies have also found that African-American children are at higher risk for high blood pressure than their peers at the same age and weight. According to a recent study released by Indiana University, the blood pressure of participating Black children was, on average, 16 percent higher than that in other children.
“Black kids really have higher systolic blood pressure at lower body mass indexes,” said Dr. Tamara Hannon, an associate professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. Body mass index (BMI) is frequently used as an indicator of determining obesity, a risk factor for hypertension.
“Something other than the BMI is contributing to high blood pressure in our kids, and we really have to take a look at that,” Hannon added.
“Blood pressure” is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps out blood. If blood pressure rises and stays high, it is called high blood pressure, or hypertension.
“Since the blood doesn’t flow as well to your organs, untreated high blood pressure can lead to a heart attack, thickening of the heart, stroke, eye problems, or kidney failure,” said Akinwande.
Experts are not sure exactly why African-Americans are more likely to have hypertension. However, research has shown that general risk factors include genetics and a family history of high blood pressure, high salt/sodium intake, smoking, obesity and African-Americans’ socioeconomic status and the medication often used by them to treat hypertension.
In some cases, though, a person may already know that hypertension runs in their family, and that they are at risk of developing high pressure. Yet, they take no action to prevent it.
“They still may not be aware of the risk posed by this condition,” said Akinwande. “That is why we need more education.”
Akinwande noted that perhaps the only beautiful thing about hypertension is that it is preventable, and once diagnosed, can be relatively easy to treat. Simple lifestyle changes can significantly reduce it.
For example, adding exercise, reducing salt intake, losing weight and cutting alcohol consumption and smoking can all go a long way in reducing blood pressure.
Most doctors recommend that patients over the age of 20 should exercise for at least 30 minutes three times a week. Brief walks in the morning and evening or use of a treadmill, for instance, can serve as an easy, but effective, options for exercise.
Akinwande noted that the reduction of salt intake is also essential in treatment, and natural herbs and vegetables can be substitutes for flavoring food.
“For most of us, in our culture as African-Americans, we do not realize that we actually do not need salt at all to cook, it is just for our taste,” Akinwande said. “One tomato contains enough sodium and potassium salt for the body to function.”
Overall, the main goal should be for everyone to take some kind of action sooner, rather than later, to prevent hypertension from occurring.
“When I tell patients ‘if you don’t address this, you might have a stroke or might be eating from a straw,’ it really gets their attention,” Akinwande said.
