Your blood pressure tends to get higher as you get older. You may have gone thru life with a normal bp for your first 45 or 55 or even 60 years and then your doctor tells you your bp is up. She wants you to exercise more, watch your diet, lose a few pounds and come back in 6 months. If your bp remains elevated she’s going to put you on medication.

Your blood pressure is something you need to pay attention to even though you pride your self in not take any drugs. That was then; this is now.

Uncontrolled hypertension can damage the lining of your arteries, increase your risk of cardiovascular disease such as heart disease and stroke. High blood pressure can also impair your vision, cause kidney failure, and be a contributing factor for dementia.

Hypertension or high blood pressure is called a silent killer because its symptoms are subtle and go unnoticed until the damage has been done. At one time clinicians assumed that high blood pressure was a normal part of aging and seldom treated it in older people. But after several very large clinical trials the evidence show that for people ages 60 and over, including people over 80, treatment does reduce the incidence of strokes and other cardiovascular events.

The lesson is simple: pay attention to your blood pressure and have it taken on a regular basis or take it yourself. You can purchase a blood pressure monitor at any drugstore.

To your successful healthy aging.

Ruthan Brodsky

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Filed under: Conditions and Diseases

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