Intro
May is Blood Pressure Awareness Month. WNIN’s Tim Jagielo spoke with Jen Healy, public health educator with the Vanderburgh County Health Department and Merritt Bates-Thomas, health education director with the Green River District Health Department, about the risks … and treatments … of high blood pressure.
Merritt Bates-Thomas
This is a really important topic simply because about 40-percent of adult Americans have high blood pressure.
Many of them don't know they have it. It's a significant risk factor for the development of heart disease. And it's the number one risk factor for the development of stroke.
Jen Healy
So high blood pressure is a condition, which is the force of the blood against the artery walls is too high. The arteries are what carry our blood from our heart to the other parts of our body.
Tim Jagielo
We always like to get into the practical side. So what are the risk factors for high blood pressure?
MBT
Well, you have a broad spectrum heart disease, injury to the brain, to the heart, the kidneys, the eyes, over time. Heart attack, and stroke, as we've mentioned, and also kidney disease.
TJ
How does race, gender age, and etcetera, maybe exacerbate or I guess, impact high blood pressure?
MBT
So the risk factors, we have the non modifiable risk factors as we age, there's just a greater likelihood that we'll develop certain chronic conditions. And that includes high blood pressure, which can lead to the problems that we've mentioned.
Genetics and our family history are non modifiable, our race and ethnicity are non modifiable. African Americans tend to be at greater risk for developing high blood pressure. And then the modifiable risk factors that were the lifestyle habits that we choose to adopt or not.
And even with a family history, those modifiable risk factors, then can can play a part in helping us successfully manage blood pressure.
TJ
And I know we wanted to get into diabetes. Jen, can you talk about maybe how the two could be linked?
JH
I think obesity goes into a lot of other factors. So thinking along the lines of our way, and our lifestyle habits, which Merritt mentioned, those can really impact not only your blood pressure, and the types of foods that you're eating could also lead to an increase in blood pressure.
And then those things can also impact, you know, our diabetes risk as well. And just looking at the combination, if we have one of those issues that can lead to all other kinds of diseases. So it's just really making sure that we're looking at what our family history is that we're looking at the types of foods that we're eating … the types of drinks that we're drinking.
TJ
Considering high blood pressure and diabetes, what resources, practical resources do your health departments have for people that they should know about?
JH
So the Vanderburgh County Health Department has a diabetes prevention program, it's a year long, it's for those who are pre diabetic, so not quite diagnosed being diabetic. But in that program, we talk about, you know, addressing healthy weight, how to eat properly, the importance of physical activity and the guidelines for that.
We also have a whole section on blood pressure and just making sure that we are looking at our numbers, and making sure that we are focusing on other risk factors that could come out of being pre diabetic.
MBT
In the Green River District, we have an upcoming healthy living with diabetes, which is our diabetes self management, education and support class series in Henderson, coming up, I believe, starting next week, and you can call the Henderson County Extension office to get more information and to register there.
We also offer care SM BP which is a self measured blood pressure monitoring program for people with either pre hypertension or hypertension. Wanting to learn how to successfully use a blood pressure monitor, understand what their numbers mean, and then look at making some meaningful lifestyle choices and changes in their habits.