05-14-2003, 01:33 PM | #1 | ||
This guy has posted so much, his fingers are about to fall off.
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: In Absentia
|
"Normal" Blood Pressure No Longer Normal
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Millions of people who thought they had healthy blood pressure are about to get a surprise: The government says levels once considered normal or borderline actually signal "prehypertension," and those people must take care to stave off full-blown high blood pressure.
It's a major change, in new federal guidelines being released Wednesday, that affects people with blood pressure as low as 120 over 80 -- once thought to be a good level but now considered not good enough. "We don't want to frighten the public, we want to get action. Even small changes in blood pressure are important," said Dr. Aram Chobanian, dean of the Boston University school of medicine and chairman of committee that wrote the guidelines. About 45 million Americans are in this prehypertensive range, says the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which issued the new recommendations. The change comes from recent scientific studies showing the risk of heart disease begins at blood pressures lower than previously thought. Also in the guidelines: • Most people who already have high blood pressure will need at least two medications to control the dangerous disorder. • For the majority of patients, one of those drugs should be a cheap, old-fashioned diuretic. • Blood pressure is measured as two values and the first, or top, number in the reading is the most important for anyone over age 50 -- something too few doctors and patients understand. If nothing else, that number should be below 140. The guidelines overall urge doctors to be far more aggressive in treating hypertension, noting that almost a third of people with high blood pressure don't even know it. Plus, two-thirds of diagnosed patients don't have the disease under control -- too often because doctors hesitate to prescribe a second or third medication, said Dr. Daniel W. Jones of the American Heart Association, a co-author of the guidelines. An estimated 50 million Americans have high blood pressure, often called the silent killer because it may not cause symptoms until the patient has suffered damage. It raises the risk of heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, kidney damage, blindness and dementia. A new normal High blood pressure measures 140 over 90 or more. That level hasn't changed. Until now, optimal blood pressure was considered 120 over 80 or lower; normal was up to 130 over 85; and levels above that were called borderline until patients reached the hypertension range. But the new guidelines classify normal blood pressure as below 120 over 80 -- and readings anywhere from 120 over 80 up to 140 over 90 as prehypertensive. "We hope it's going to catch people's attention," Jones said of the new prehypertension category. "This is not to alarm people but simply deliver the message that ... they are at higher risk for going on to develop hypertension and they need to take action." That doesn't mean medication. Instead, people with prehypertension should lose weight if they're overweight, get regular physical activity, avoid a salty diet and consume no more than two alcoholic drinks a day. All those factors increase blood pressure, the guidelines say. Recent scientific studies show that risk of heart disease actually begins rising once blood pressure creeps above 115 over 75, said guideline co-author Ed Roccella, a hypertension specialist at the heart institute. There's a doubling of risk for each 20-point rise in the top number, called the systolic pressure, or 10-point rise in the bottom number, the diastolic pressure. "Most of us will have hypertension if we live long enough," said Roccella. The hope is that if people know they're prehypertensive -- even if they're a skinny 20-something with 120 over 80 readings today -- they'll make wiser lifestyle choices and thus stave off the blood-pressure creep that comes with age. The guidelines will be published in next week's Journal of the American Medical Association, but because of their importance are being released early online Wednesday.
__________________
M's pitcher Miguel Batista: "Now, I feel like I've had everything. I've talked pitching with Sandy Koufax, had Kenny G play for me. Maybe if I could have an interview with God, then I'd be served. I'd be complete." |
||
05-14-2003, 01:35 PM | #2 |
General Manager
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: The Town of Flower Mound
|
Ahh, screw it. If I die, I die. No biggie...
__________________
UTEP Miners!!! I solemnly swear to never cheer for TO |
05-14-2003, 01:49 PM | #3 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Fairfax, VA
|
What do you mean "if" you die?
|
05-14-2003, 01:55 PM | #4 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Maryland
|
In other news, the government today warned that over 250 million Americans are at risk of dying at some point in their lives.
__________________
null |
05-14-2003, 01:59 PM | #5 |
High School JV
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Mesa, AZ
|
So change your standards so that you can print more public education literature, set more guidelines, more oversight, and generally give some Department of Health people something to do.
|
05-14-2003, 02:01 PM | #7 |
Lethargic Hooligan
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: hello kitty found my wallet at a big tent revival and returned it with all the cash missing
|
I am sure the pharmasutical companies are crying.
hello 15mg of Bisoprolol.
__________________
donkey, donkey, walk a little faster Last edited by Fritz : 05-14-2003 at 02:02 PM. |
05-14-2003, 02:08 PM | #8 | |
General Manager
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: The Town of Flower Mound
|
Quote:
Well, I am a demi-god...
__________________
UTEP Miners!!! I solemnly swear to never cheer for TO |
|
05-14-2003, 02:10 PM | #9 | |
This guy has posted so much, his fingers are about to fall off.
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: In Absentia
|
Quote:
My didn't, but I guess I'm supposed to feel less healthy than I did before I read it.
__________________
M's pitcher Miguel Batista: "Now, I feel like I've had everything. I've talked pitching with Sandy Koufax, had Kenny G play for me. Maybe if I could have an interview with God, then I'd be served. I'd be complete." |
|
05-14-2003, 02:13 PM | #10 |
College Prospect
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
|
Oh well, I am doomed...break out the drugs and hookers!
__________________
Just trying to get by unnoticed... Loyal fan of the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Eagles. |
05-14-2003, 03:07 PM | #11 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: ...down the gravity well
|
I'm going to live forever...(freeze me now please).
__________________
"General Woundwort's body was never found. It could be that he still lives his fierce life somewhere else, but from that day on, mother rabbits would tell their kittens that if they did not do as they were told, the General would get them. Such was Woundwort's monument, and perhaps it would not have displeased him." Watership Down, Richard Adams |
05-14-2003, 03:10 PM | #12 | |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Fairfax, VA
|
Quote:
Maybe you'll just repop someplace else... |
|
05-14-2003, 09:37 PM | #13 |
College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: A sports era long ago when everything didnt require a Nike logo
|
Morons, your bus is leaving.
__________________
Nobody cares about Kyle Orton because he's black. -PT |
05-14-2003, 09:41 PM | #14 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Cary, NC, USA
|
Anyone see the piece on Peter Jennings (ABC World News Tonight) on this?
Because, uh, the guy they took the BP from and interviewed was me. There go my fifteen minutes of fame... |
05-14-2003, 09:51 PM | #15 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Willow Glen, CA
|
Congrats Kevin!
__________________
Every time a Dodger scores a run, an angel has its wings ripped off by a demon, and is forced to tearfully beg the demon to cauterize the wounds.The demon will refuse, and the sobbing angel will lie in a puddle of angel blood and feathers for eternity, wondering why the Dodgers are allowed to score runs.That’s not me talking: that’s science. McCoveyChronicles.com. |
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | |
Thread Tools | |
|
|