Hypertension

What is Hypertension?

  • Blood pressure: Blood pressure is the force exerted by the blood against the walls of blood vessels.
  • Blood pressure is determined both by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries.
  • Hypertension is defined as having a blood pressure higher than 140 over 90 mm/HG (Normal BP: 120/90)
  • The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries, the higher your blood pressure.

Epidemiology in African Americans

  • Compared with Whites, young African Americans have a two to three fold greater risk of stroke.
  • 38.2% prevalence in African Americans
  • 25% have uncontrolled hypertension
  • Male African Americans make up 30% of all deaths due to hypertension
  • Female African Americans make up 20% of all deaths due to hypertension

Causes

  • Obesity
  • Stress
  • Smoking
  • High salt intake
    • All may trigger hypertension in people who have inherited such a tendency
  • Hypertension produces no symptoms until dangerous complications occur like causing an artery in the brain to burst or producing a stroke.

Number one killer of women: It’s not breast cancer, more women die of heart disease than of all cancers combined.

Results of Hypertension

  • Forces the heart to work harder and so cause a heart attack
  • Can cause kidney failure by reducing the flood of blood to the kidneys
  • High blood pressure is a major cause of Arteriosclerosis

Heart Disease

  • African Americans develop high blood pressure more often, and at an earlier age than Whites and Mexicans do.
  • High blood pressure is more common in non-Hispanic Black adults (56%) than in non-Hispanic White adults (48%), non-Hispanic Asian adults (46%) or Hispanic adults (39%)
  • As many as 116 million American adults have high blood pressure
  • The country’s highest rates due to stroke are in the Southeastern U.S.
  • Oral contraceptive use, especially among women over age 35 and those who smoke, has been linked to an increased incidence of heart disease.
  • Adherence or compliance to medical treatment is a significant issue in healthcare delivery since research indicates that only 30 to 35% of patients follow their physician's recommendations and 30 to 35% do not comply at all.
  • Patients who have chronic illnesses tend to adhere less.