Who would not be excited to hear that rates are dropping?
Good news, your interest rate has decreased….
Wow, your mortgage has been lowered….
Yippee, the price has gone down…
Unfortunately, for almost half of Americans (46%), this is not one of those times!
The American Heart Association recently published new health guidelines, recommending treatment for a blood pressure of 130/80 versus the previous 140/90 parameter.
Considering the new hypertension (i.e. high blood pressure) health guidelines will now classify 103.3 million people, up from 72.2 million previously, with having hypertension, our nation faces significant health challenges.
What Your Numbers Mean
For those who may not already know, a blood pressure includes two numbers. The systolic pressure, the first number, indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls when the heart beats and the diastolic pressure, second number, indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls while the heart is resting between beats.
When your blood pressure exceeds the new normal parameter of 130/80, the degree of hypertension is identified in stages.
Stage 1 – Systolic, first number, is between 130 – 139 or diastolic, second number, is between 80 – 89.
Stage 2 – Systolic is at least 140 or diastolic is at least 90.
Hypertensive Crisis – Systolic rises above 180 and/or diastolic is over 120.
The new guidelines eliminate the category of prehypertension, which was used for systolic readings between 120 and 139 or diastolic numbers between 80 – 89.
Why Monitoring Matters
Hypertension is second only to smoking for causing preventable heart disease and stroke deaths.
While doctors anticipate a small fraction of Americans will be prescribed medication for management of their newly classified hypertension, experts feel lifestyle changes could have the most significant impact on your health.
Such as:
- Decreasing salt
- Regular exercise
- Relaxation
- Getting proper amounts of sleep
- Increasing potassium rich fruits and vegetables
Concerned about how the new hypertension health guidelines will impact you and your workforce? Give us a call to find out how easy employee health medical management can be.
Holly is an ER nurse by trade, but loves content marketing. She was born outside the box and believes everything is better with “sprinkles and sparkles”. She is passionate about impacting lives and uses marketing as her platform for sharing practical solutions to address real life occupational health challenges.
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