May Is National High Blood Pressure Education Month

Do you know what your blood pressure is? Do you know what a "normal" blood pressure is? It's surprising how many people say no to either or both of those questions. But this is National High Blood Pressure Education Month in the United States, so let's do some educating.

First, some sobering numbers from the Centers of Disease Control (CDC):

- Among American adults who are in the community, meaning that they are not in a hospital or a long-term care facility, about 1/3 or about 68 million have high blood pressure (hypertension).

- Hypertension is very expensive to the economy. With the associated healthcare services and medications, as well as missed days of work, hypertension costs the United States about $93.5 billion (with a B) in 2010, and the costs are rising.

But what exactly is hypertension?

As your heart pumps oxygen-rich blood away towards your body's organs and tissues, the blood pushes against the arteries, which carry the blood. The more resistance the blood meets as it goes through, the harder the the heart has to pump and the higher the pressure goes. The less resistance there is, the lower the blood pressure goes.

Picture a garden hose. As the hose rests along the ground, straight, the water pressure remains even as it flows through. If you pinch the hose, or make the end narrower, the pressure will build up. Along the same lines, if you cut holes in the hose or replace it with a wider hose, the pressure will not be as strong.

When the heart has to work hard to get the blood through the arteries, it can tire or become damaged.

So, why is that dangerous?

The harder your heart has to work, the higher the risk of it becoming damaged or you developing heart disease. Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in North America.

You can't wait until you have signs of high blood pressure because there are no symptoms. This is exactly why hypertension is called the silent killer. By the time the damage is done, it's often too late.

Finding out your blood pressure

Many drugstores have blood pressure machines in the pharmacy area that anyone may use. If you don't know your blood pressure, this is a good place to start, unless you are seeing your doctor or nurse practitioner anyway.

Your blood pressure has two numbers, an upper number and a lower one. The upper number is the systolic pressure, as the heart beats. The lower number is the diastolic pressure, as the heart relaxes. When a nurse takes your blood pressure with a stethoscope, he or she is listening for when the beating of the blood begins as it flows through the artery and then when it can no longer be heard. The measurements are in millimeters of mercury, or mmHg.

The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute suggests that a normal blood pressure for a healthy adult 18 years old or older is one where the systolic number is 120 mmHg or lower and the diastolic is 80 mmHg or lower. A blood pressure of 120 to 139 over 80 to 89 is considered to be prehypertension. This is followed by stage I hypertension (140 to 159 over 90 to 99) and stage II (160 or higher over 100 or higher).

If you are monitoring your blood pressure at a local store or with a machine that you have at home, it's important to be consistent by using the same machine each time, much the way you should weigh yourself on the same scale each time. Every machine is a bit different. Your blood pressure may come out to three different readings on three different machines. By taking it always on the same machine, you will see if there are any changes. It is also best to take it at the same time of day each time as blood pressures can rise and fall throughout the day.

If you think that your blood pressure is too high, you should talk to your doctor or nurse practitioner about it. It could be helpful if you keep a record of your own blood pressure measurements, a diary, so you can show the doctor what you mean.

White coat syndrome

Some people have perfectly normal blood pressures, but it shoots up whenever they have their pressure taken by a doctor or nurse. This is what we often call white coat syndrome. If this happens to you, having your own machine at home and keeping track yourself may be more helpful than just having your pressure taken at the doctor's office.

Low blood pressure

You don't hear about low blood pressure too often because, as a rule, it's not a serious problem in every day life. If you are up and about, living life as you want, a lower than average blood pressure is likely not going to cause any problems. However, people with low blood pressures can get dizzy more quickly than other people, so it is important for them to get up slowly from a sitting position, be sure they are well hydrated, and to eat well.

So - what's your blood pressure? Feel free to let us know in the comments section. Mine is usually around 115/70 or so, but it's been much lower, so I'm one of the ones who has to be very careful sometimes.

(Blog post number 2 of Blogathon 2012!)

We're Part of the 2012 Blogathon!

Keeping up a blog can be tough when life gets busy. I often have great ideas to put on this blog but then I get side tracked and I figure I'll come back and do it later. Unfortunately, "later" will become "never" much of the time.

The thing is - this is a popular blog even though it's not updated regularly. I check my stats and I get a good number of visitors every single day. This blog has raised my profile as a health writer and not only have clients found me through the blog, I have helped many people with some of the information I've posted.

So, because I know my poor blog has been neglected and I keep saying I'll be better at posting, I have decided to join the 2012 Blogathon. I committed to writing a blog post a day from today until May 31st. Hopefully, the topics I choose will be interesting and entertaining and my poor blog will no longer feel left out of my writing life.

Many of my regular readers know that I am particularly passionate about a few specific healthcare topics. One is sepsis, a disease that kills over 700 people PER DAY in the United States. Yes, per day. Sepsis Alliance is one of my clients. Yesterday was the 10-year anniversary of the death of the founder's daughter. Erin Flatley was only 23 years old - the age of my daughter now. Erin went in to the hospital for minor elective surgery. She died of sepsis five days later.

There are even higher numbers of people who get sepsis and live - but are left with severe life-altering after effects, such as limb amputations, organ dysfunction, post traumatic stress disorder, and more.

In 2011, we instituted Sepsis Awareness Month, to be held every September. This year, the Global Sepsis Alliance has declared September 13th to be World Sepsis Day. This is a huge opportunity to help raise more awareness of this horrible illness. If you would like to watch a video on the impact of sepsis, Sepsis: Emergency is quite powerful.

Want to learn more? Dr. James O'Brien was interviewed on BlogTalkRadio. Listen to how he describes what sepsis is, what can happen with it, and how it could be treated:

Listen to internet radio with Boomer and The Babe on Blog Talk Radio

Now, is there anything in particular you would like me to talk about? Are there any health topics that are concerning you? There is so much in the news these days from issues about autism to childhood obesity.

Our Childhoods: The Games We Used to Play

Do you remember running around, playing freely with friends, siblings, or cousins? Do you remember the  freedom that came from organizing your own games of tag, hide and seek, Red Rover, and all those other games?

This type of free play was very active, with lots of running, jumping, throwing balls, and more - our bodies were moving, often for hours at a time. We may not have realized it back then, but we were getting exercise while we were having fun.

Our games were also very social. Because they were pick-up games, they were organized by us. Someone got the kids together, someone supplied the tools (ball, etc.), if needed. Rules were discussed, compromises made, and the games then played. Sometimes, negotiations were needed as some players decided they wanted to play the game one way, while others disagreed.

Playing was a part of our life. That was what we did. No matter what socioeconomic group, culture, geographic location - with the rare extreme exception - all of us played. 

Games We Used to Play is a site where people can submit their memories of games they played. It's part of a project to help people remember the simpler times, where games were played with a minimum of objects. No electricity, no Internet connections - just imagination and time. There is also a Facebook page: When I Was a Kid, I Played, where others are also discussing the games of their childhood. Everyone is welcome, no matter where in the world you are, to share your stories. Please do.

Recruiting Kidney Donors and Cancer Patients through Social Media

Guest post by Brian Flora

Last month Tom Brady, the quarterback for the New England Patriots, lost his longtime personal coach Tom Martinez to a heart attack. Martinez was just days away from potentially life-saving kidney transplant surgery when he suffered a heart attack after dialysis, which took his life at the age of 67.

While this is sad news for sports fans, it’s become national news for another reason. Using the power of social media, Brady was able to get over 10,000 people to register with matchingdonors.com, a site that matches kidney patients with potential donors, as reported by the Baltimore Sun.

It was through Twitter and Facebook that Brady asked his extensive fan base to register with the site. Even though he wasn’t successful in saving the life of his friend and coach, he has developed a passion for helping people recognize the need to register as kidney donors. And he has shed light on the ability to use social media to recruit for medical purposes.

Activism through social media

The National Kidney Foundation in the United States estimates that over 100,000 people are on the national waiting list for a kidney transplant, and 30 percent of those will likely die before they’re able to receive a kidney. But because living donors can donate a kidney with little impact on their overall health, patients waiting for kidneys don’t always have to wait until a donor is deceased. Tom Brady and other celebrities like him are using social media to raise awareness about kidney diseases and transplants.

This story shows just how influential social media can be, even in the medical field. For patients, social media can provide a way to build support as they face treatment. For example, cancer patients need a tremendous amount of support as they fight their disease, yet they often don’t feel well enough to visit a support group or participate in other activities. Through social media, cancer patients can connect with others who have been down their road before, and get the support they so desperately need.

Doctors are also taking notice of these trends, particularly the ease with which Brady got his recruits. One area where this is particularly important is in trials for cancer treatment. Only about three to five percent of cancer patients participate in trials, according to the Biotech Strategy Blog, often because they are not informed about the trials available to them. Many doctors and researchers alike want these numbers to be higher. Patients can follow social media outlets to find these trials even when their personal doctors may not actively recommend them. As a result, researchers are hoping to get greater numbers to sign up in the future.

These trends and Tom Brady’s success show that social media is powerful, even in the field of medicine. Through it, patients, doctors and researchers can hope to connect even more efficiently in upcoming years than ever before. If this means thousands more participate in trials or register as kidney donors, then it is a good thing.