Silent Killers - Hypertension & Diabetes

High blood pressure and Diabetes often referred as the “silent killer” because it may not show any symptoms, puts at an increased risk for heart disease, heart failure, and stroke, among other things like kidney failure, nerve damage (neuropathy) and eye problems (retinopathy) leading to blindness in diabetes.

Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)- Half of all Americans have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, and many don’t even know they have it. High blood pressure develops when blood flows through your arteries at higher-than-normal pressures. Your blood pressure is made up of two numbers: systolic and diastolic. Systolic pressure is the pressure when the ventricles pump blood out of the heart. Diastolic pressure is the pressure between heartbeats when the heart is filling with blood. For most adults, a normal blood pressure is less than 120 over 80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), which is written as your systolic pressure reading over your diastolic pressure reading is120/80 mm Hg. Your blood pressure is considered high when you have consistent systolic readings of 130 mm Hg or higher or diastolic readings of 80 mm Hg or higher. 

119.9 million (nearly 50%) of adults have hypertension, only 1 in 4 (27 million) adults have it under control, while 92.9 million adults do not have under control. Further, 4 in 5 (94.9 million) adults with hypertension are recommended to take medications to treat it. Hypertension is very common among adults, so it is important to check for early signs of it.