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James L. Holly, M.D. |
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Special Services |
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SETMA's hypertension clinic is founded upon the premise that all
illnesses are improved and sometimes prevented by effective treatment of your blood pressure.
The following are risk factors for developing hypertension:
- smoking,
- diabetes,
- family history of high blood pressure,
- heavy alcohol consumption (more than 1/2 ounce of 90 proof alcohol a day or more than 1/2 can of beer a day),
- high fat diet,
- high salt diet,
- being overweight,
- being male,
- being African-American,
- sedentary lifestyle (being a couch potato),
- being on birth control pills,
- being over 50 years of age, or
- being post-menopausal.
Some of these you can change; some you can't. The more unchangeable risks you have, the more aggressively you must address those which can be changed. Beginning with your weight, diet, activity level and habits such as alcohol and smoking, SETMA providers encourage life-styles which improve your blood pressure without medication. The DASH Diet - Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension - was designed to help avoid or control hypertension. Following the DASH Diet will reduce your systolic blood pressure by 8-14 mm Hg, which is the same effect as taking one blood pressure medication. Ask your SETMA healthcare provider for information on the DASH Diet. The following lifestyle changes will affect the blood pressure:
- Eliminating or severely restricting alcohol consumption will decrease the systolic blood pressure 2-4 mm Hg;
- Losing weight will decrease the pressure by 5-20 mm Hg with a 20 pound weight loss;
- Exercise will decrease your blood pressure by 4-9 mm Hg;
- Reducing salt intake will reduce the blood pressure by 2-8 mm Hg.
Add these up - and they are not necessarily cumulative in their effect - and add in the DASH Diet, shows that you can potentially reduce your blood pressure by 21-55 mm Hg without medication.
Medications
When medication is required, effective medications are used based on other conditions such as Diabetes, CHF, elevated cholesterol, depression, etc. Whether you have pre-hypertension and can avoid advancing to full-blown hypertension, whether you are elderly with isolated systolic hypertension and are at risk of early morning strokes, or whether you have diabetes or heart disease, managing your blood pressure is critical to your well-being.
SETMA's providers take your blood pressure seriously, whether in general clinic, in the Metabolism Clinic, in the Hypertension Clinic, in the hospital, nursing home or the emergency room. If you have high blood pressure, it will usually take 2 or more medications, along with life-style changes to control your blood pressure. Often, we unconsciously think that having to take more than one medication for the control of blood pressure means that we have failed to select the right medication. Actually, seven landmark studies of blood pressure treatment programs demonstrated that 2.5 to 4.0 drugs were needed to get the majority of patients to their target treatment goal. |
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SETMA's hypertension clinic can help you achieve your healthcare goals and one of the most important ways is to keep your blood pressure normal. |
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