Hypertension... What is it?

Posted: 2/1/2023

High blood pressure is often called hypertension. This is when the force of blood flowing through your blood vessels is consistently too high. Hypertension is often called a “silent” killer because many people have no symptoms or don’t even know they have it. Even without symptoms, high blood pressure increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, eye disease and kidney disease.
Hypertension is not heart disease. However, hypertension is the most common risk factor for heart disease, which is why it is not something you want to ignore. Nearly half of the adults in the U.S. have hypertension but only 1 in 4 of these adults have their condition under control.
These tips can help prevent and manage hypertension with
lifestyle habits:

- Eat a heart-healthy diet and lower your salt intake
- Learn how to manage your stress
- Quit smoking
- Get active, at least 30 minutes a day five times a week
- Maintaining a healthy weight or losing weight
- Limit alcohol
- Get 7 to 9 hours of sleep daily

The best way to know if you have high blood pressure is to get checked. Parkland offers hypertension screenings at no cost to you at our community pop-ups. Learn more at https://www.parklandhealth.org/connect