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Hypertension & High Blood Pressure: How To Improve Life Threatening Weight-Related Diseases
The American Heart Association estimates that one of three Americans have have hypertension. And yet many of us don't know what it is, why it's dangerous, and what the treatment options are. What Is Hypertension? Hypertension is a fancy medical word for high blood pressure. Your blood carries nutrients and oxygen to your body, and picks up waste like carbon dioxide. The heart pumps the blood through "pipes" - blood vessels called arteries- and the blood returns to the heart through veins. Blood pressure is the "push" of blood against the walls of the arteries. It is a good thing to have blood pressure - if blood pressure is zero, it means there's no blood moving through the arteries! But like the water pipes in a house, if the blood is being pushed too hard against the walls of the vessels, they might be damaged. Extra pressure can also contribute to creating blood clots that block needed blood supply to the brain. Hypertension can lead to dangerous conditions including heart failure (when the heart has to work too hard just to get the blood moving around the body), stroke (interference with the blood flow in the brain), and kidney disease, to name a few. How Do I know If I'm At Risk? While having a family history of hypertension may increase your risk for hypertension, not all people with hypertension have family members with it. Hypertension is generally "asymptomatic" - most people don't have symptoms as they develop it - so checking your blood pressure should be a part of regular healthcare. How Is High Blood Pressure Diagnosed? When your blood pressure is taken at a health clinic or doctor's office, the result is a mysterious number like this: 120 / 80 The first/top number is called the "systolic" blood pressure; the second/bottom, the diastolic pressure. The American Heart association recommends that the top number in adults should be no higher than 120 and the bottom no higher than 80 (children have different ranges of healthy blood pressure for different age groups - ask your pediatrician if you are concerned). If your systolic pressure is between 140 to 159 and/or your diastolic pressure is between 90 and 99, that's considered mild hypertension. Moderate to severe hypertension includes systolic pressures over 160 and/or diastolic over 100. What Are My Treatment Options? Treatment depends on the severity of the high blood pressure. Keep in mind that a very stressful day can increase your blood pressure readings, as (for some people) can a trip to your doctor's office. So if your blood pressure reading is on the border between healthy and hypertensive, you may need to make a return visit. If you have a pre-hypertensive blood pressure after a repeat check, your doctor or nurse practitioner may recommend a trial of lifestyle changes that can help lower blood pressure including: -exercise -a lower-salt diet -increased intake of potassium -weight loss -moderation of alcohol consumption -stress reduction However, if you have mild to severe hypertension (Stage 1 or 2), or if you have pre-hypertension in combination with conditions like heart disease, kidney disease, or diabetes, your health care provider may prescribe medications. There are many different hypertension medications. They don't all work the same way, and different ones work differently for different people, so your provider will probably have you check in to make sure the medication first prescribed is working for you. Sometimes two medications can compliment each other, so your healthcare provider may prescribe two kinds. Once medication has been prescribed sit down with your health care provider or pharmacist and a list of all the medications you take (including over the counter medications) to make sure that there are no harmful interactions between them and tyour blood pressure medicines. In addition, keep in mind that most blood pressure medications have side effects; ask your healthcare provider to write down likely side effects for you, noting side effects and symptoms that indicate that you should come in to have your dose changed. Most importantly, medication is not enough! Make sure to modify your lifestyle to help the medications do a good job. "High Blood Pressure" Nidus Information Services, 2004 "Percentage of adults aged ≥20 who were ever told they had high blood pressure" Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports, Center for Disease Control, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, volume 51, issue 21, 2002 "Screening for high blood pressure: recommendations and rationale,"U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, American Family Physician Volume 68, issue 10, p. 2019-22 "The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure," The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institiute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health, Volume 3, no. 5233, 2003 Copyright (C) Shoppe.MD and Ian Mason, 2004-2005 Ian Mason, owner of Shoppe.MD, your source for Online Prescription Medications, drug information and support forums. Ian is a fat-to-fit student of health, weight loss, exercise, and several martial arts; maintaining several websites in an effort to help provide up-to-date and helpful information for other who share his interests in health of body and mind.
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Alternative Medicine Paxil Recall Lawyer Discusses Paxil Addiction Paxil went on the market in 1992 at the height of antidepressant drug popularity. It is a member of the class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. The SSRI drugs revolutionized antidepressants because they have very few side effects and it is practically impossible to overdose on them. It makes sense not to prescribe a depressed person with pills they can easily overdose with. Though a latecomer to the SSRI market, Paxil grew successful very quickly by gaining FDA approval for very specific conditions like "social anxiety disorder" and "general anxiety disorder", which were very rare conditions at the time. In running add campaigns, Paxil encouraged people to try their drug if they'd experienced any general anxiety and, as can be expected, sales of Paxil soared. 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One of the companies working on this scheme is AcryMed, which makes surgical devices in Portland, Oregon. New Antidepressant Developments and Approvals New antidepressant development, until fairly recently, was at best a random, and at worst a problematic and frustrating, process. Often, medications that were developed for one thing were discovered quite accidentally to have much more important therapeutic effects for a completely different disorder. It has been well described that some of the original antipsychotics were originally developed to assist in anesthesia, and some of the original new antidepressants were originally intended to be medications for tuberculosis or psychosis. New antidepressant development was done on a "chemical" basis; that is, guesses were made as to compounds that would be safe and effective based on chemical structures of established medications. This was very much a trial-and-error process, since very little was known about how these drugs worked and very little could be measured beyond actually giving them to a patient. How You Can Erase Low Back Pain Using the Latest Medical Techniques! "If you are one the nine out of ten adults in the United States who suffers from low back pain, I have good news for you!" states Dr. Nathan Wei, a board-certified rheumatologist and Clinical Director of the Arthritis and Osteoporosis Center of Maryland. Celebrex Side Effects Lawsuit Lawyer The Food and Drug administration urges people to stop taking Celebrex, but even so the drug has remained on the market. Recent studies have found that Celebrex causes heart attacks and strokes at higher doses. These same problems have lead rival pharmaceutical company Merck & Co to remove its painkiller Vioxx from the market. However, Pfizer, the maker of Celebrex, is leaving its dangerous drug on the market. Vioxx Personal Injury Lawsuits Personal injury attorneys representing clients who have allegedly been harmed by the prescription drug Vioxx are congratulating themselves over a historic judgment rendered recently. On August 19, 2005, a judge awarded the family of Bob Ernst $253.4 million due to his death from the drug. Vioxx, which had been prescribed most often for arthritis pain, was withdrawn globally by its maker, Merck, after research trials showed it increased patients' chances of a heart attack. Although Merck pulled the drug off the market in September 2004, legal action against this leading pharmaceutical giant will continue and expand. Let's take a look at why Vioxx has become a litigation lightning rod. Taking The Sting Out Of Bug Bites (NC)-In most cases insect bites are harmless and if left alone, the irritation will subside within 48 hours. Can You Always Trust Your Dentists Recommendations? Can you always trust your dentists' recommendations? Think for yourself - in the last 30 years the health of our teeth has improved dramatically. We drink fluoridated water, which almost eliminated decay in our teeth. Utah Drug Rehab: Searching For A Therapist Finding the right treatment for any person suffering with a drug abuse problem can be a difficult task - where do you start, how do you know what to look for, how do I find a good therapist or treatment center in my area? Thankfully, there are many resources to help you find the help that you or a loved one need - here are some tips to help you locate Utah drug rehab help. Residential Drug Treatment Centers Chemical dependency recovery provides with positive changes in reactions and behaviors. Residential Treatment Centers can be accommodate those suffering from alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling addiction, and more. Treating both men and women together, or separately, they can offer the assistance that you need . Some residential treatment centers can even provide an atmosphere for specific cultural groups. Doc, My Tummy Aches and My Joints Hurt! Is there a connection? Inflammatory disease of the bowel- regional enteritis (Crohn's disease) and ulcerative colitis- are often associated with arthritis. This occurs because inflammation in the bowel and the joints may share a common immunological abnormality. Dangerous Drugs Vioxx, Celebrex, and Bextra: An editorial regarding dangerous drugs The Equine Cushings Cure Equine Cushings disease is caused by a tumor in the pituitary gland, which is responsible for the production and regulation of hormones. Symptoms include a long, shaggy coat that does not shed, excessive drinking and urination, laminitis, a tendency for recurring infections in the hoof (foot abscesses), and a loss of muscle mass, especially along the topline and rump. What is Going On With Pharmacies in Canada There is a large amount of talk lately in regard to Canadian pharmacies, and why not? pharmacies in Canada provide the same identical perscription drugs you would find at the local pharmacy, deliver to your front door, and most importantly, save you some cash. But not all pharmacies are the same. This article has been composed to help you to identify what you ought to look around for when doing business with Canadian pharmacies online. A Very Medical Miracle Madeline Mann once weighed less can a can of soda making her the tiniest surviving newborn known to medicine. Next week, she enters high school as something even more exrtaordinary- a honor student who likes to play violin and Rollerblade. Rebound Headache - Stop The Cycle You've been getting headaches. Finally, you find some medications that are making a difference. You're headaches are almost all gone but wait they're coming back! They're getting worse! The painkillers aren't doing the job they used to do. What's going on? Army Report Validates Prediction of Vaccine-Induced Epidemic "The more we do to you, the less you seem to believe we are doing it." - Joseph Mengele Lunesta Personality Changes Lunesta is a newly released sleeping pill. Marketed as a revolutionary sleep aid, Lunesta is the only medication approved by the FDA for long term treatment of insomnia symptoms. Although Lunesta is a quality medicine that has already helped many people cure their insomnia symptoms and get a better night's sleep, there is something you should know before your buy Lunesta.
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