the silent kiler

THE SILENT KILLER REVISITED

this is a picture of my blood pressure device i use
that is my last blood pressure
its close enough to the new normal range for your blood pressure
120/80

i wrote this blog linked here and copied it below on the silent killer

there is a trifecta of high blood pressure
stroke
kidney failure
heart failure

you could add dementia to that also
in the form of vascular dementia and alzheimers disease

they can be prevented by controlling your blood pressure
whats control

today its 120/80
when i wrote that blog 4 years ago it was 
130/80
near the end of my medical career it was
140/90

now we know better
120/80 is the goal of blood pressure control even if you are younger

dont worry about side effects of medicines
the side effects of this trifecta is much worse

today i am off my blood pressure meds
my blood pressure is normal unless i increase my caffeine intake
thats tea coffee chocolate
so be aware for some of you that caffeine can be the cause or reason you blood pressure is up or hard to control

when i was sick 3 years ago i lost about 45 lbs
since i have gained back 30 of those lbs
im sure if i gained that last 15 lbs my blood pressure would go up again

i monitor my blood pressure regularly to make sure its not up
i know what having elevated blood pressure means for your brain heart and kidneys



here are the new guidelines from the american heart association
if you take my last blood pressure of 
128/69 
it shows i have elevated blood pressure
the goal is 120/80 or less

ive tried low dose blood pressure meds to lower it slightly 
but
when the top number gets in the low 100 teens like say 112/69 then i can feel it
i get dizzy standing up and feel fatigued
i think my body is saying to me 
that mild elevated blood pressure of 129/69 is ok for you

i got that graph from an article reviewing a study on blood pressure control and brain health and dementia

controlling your blood pressure to 120/80 improved the periventricular spaces clearing of debris and crud from the brain
its that accumulation of this stuff that occurs in alzheimers disease
even having a blood pressure of 140/90 showed less clearing of these spaces

brain 
heart 
kidneys
the trifecta of blood pressure control
__________
05-02-2019
THE SILENT KILLER
i told her well just watch it keep going up until you cant watch it anymore
my wife she wasnt amused when i told her that
i was talking about the silent killer
high blood pressure

i pay $19.70 a month for my medicare part d prescription plan
when i go to the pharmacy to pick up my 90 day prescription for my generic blood pressure medication i pay exactly $0.00 for 90 pills
my wife she does the same

so
there is no reason for either of us at least not a financial reason for us to not control our blood pressure

back years ago before there were blood pressure pills to take
high blood pressure was the most common cause of heart disease in the world
now thanks to the development of blood pressure pills and especially now that many of them are generic one can control their blood pressure fairly cheaply

the normal quote unquote blood pressure use to be 140/90
now the new normal is 130/80
it may take one two or three or maybe four in some folks to control their blood pressure

now in the alzheimers world blood pressure control has been one of the emphasis of healthy things to do to help slow down or prevent alzheimers disease
plus
there is a dementia called vascular dementia that is caused by high blood pressure and strokes
many folks with this vascular dementia also have alzheimers dementia
a double whammy

so
controlling your blood pressure is one of the pillars of slowing down the development of dementia

when i would counsel patients about why they need to control their blood pressure when i would tell them controlling it could prevent a heart attack or heart failure
they sort of half way listened to me
but
when i would say well if you dont control it youll probably have a stroke and die or be permanently disabled
that having a stroke seemed to register with them especially if it had happened in the past in their family
later
i added alzheimers disease and vascular dementia to the list

the non compliant ones would squirm
sometimes it worked
sometimes it didnt


essence.com
this week famed director john singleton died at 51 from a stroke
he apparently had long term high blood pressure
i dont know if it was well controlled or not
sometimes in the Afro American population high blood pressure may be hard to control
or
maybe he was just non compliant with his medicine

also recently well known actor luke perry also died at 52 from a stroke

the problem is that usually there are no symptoms of high blood  pressure
thats why they call it
the silent killer

you dont feel anything until
that blood vessel pops and a massive hemorrhage into the brain occurs
sometimes too massive to recover
or
that big glob of fat or blood clot stops up a major brain vessel

sometimes there are warning signs like numbness or tingling or weakness or confusion or stumbling
sometimes
its
just
bam
the vessel pops like a big balloon
and
thats it

dont be a statistic
get your blood pressure under control and your cholesterol and your weight and your diabetes
your family would appreciate you doing that

know the f a s t acronym and act fast

f  face dropping
a  arms are weak
s  speech is difficult
t  time is the essence call 911

sometimes if a stroke victim gets help quick enough they can be saved
__________
so when you see your doctor next time for your blood pressure
say
doc i want to win the trifecta
you know a healthy
brain 
heart 
kidney

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