Author: Teresa Hill, Editor

Teresa is famous for her unique abilities and currently she is serving as an editor for The Health Doctor website. She creates masterpieces covering everything from medical treatments to any kind of health related matters. She has an experience of decades working for top medical journals and other publications. Whenever hard work requires a lot of dedication, she is the one at the front and she performs her duty flawlessly. She is able to adopt the readers’ point of view and transforms authors’ voice into it beautifully. She is highly professional and has also worked as a freelancer for renowned medical websites.

Hypertension – The Most Prevalent Silent Killer In The US

People can become hypertensive without knowing up to some time because of having no signs and symptoms. Approximately half of the Americans are suffering from this disease and the numbers are increasing because of an unhealthy diet and lifestyle. There is a great impact of lifestyle choices on a person’s health. Hypertension could be genetic but it is triggered by a lot of reasons that are usually unknown to people.

According to the American Heart Association, blood pressure is defined as the force that blood exerts on your blood vessels during its flow. It is measured by a systolic pressure and a diastolic pressure. When the heartbeats, a pressure is generated inside the arteries is considered as systolic while when the heart is at resting condition between beats, the pressure measured in the arteries is called diastolic.

The average normal blood pressure is 120/80 mmHg. Whenever the reading goes below 90/60 mmHg then it is considered low blood pressure which could be indicated by dizziness, blurred vision, nausea, fainting, rapid shallow breathing, cold pale skin, fatigue and lack of concentration etc. when a blood pressure levels in over 130/80 mmHg then it is said to be high blood pressure or hypertension. In this condition, people will experience chest pain, loss of vision, heart failure, stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, sexual dysfunction, and peripheral artery disease, etc.

To manage hypertension, a combination of medications with a healthy diet, regular exercise, and a healthy lifestyle is very important. You have to maintain your body weight within the appropriate BMI range. A low salt diet with proper management of stress is also of great importance for lowering high blood pressure. Stress hormones are responsible for raising the blood pressure, therefore, it is equally essential to maintain a peaceful environment around you. A regular yoga time could be beneficial in lowering the blood pressure so that it will provide you peace of mind.

A well maintains blood pressure could be achieved within a month or it may take up to 3 months. The anti-hypertensive medications are so effective that it starts working on the same day and you will feel better right from the very first dose. But achieving a normal blood pressure could be challenging for a lot of people due to co-morbidities and unhealthy lifestyle. So the progress could vary from person to person and t requires a lot of struggle and hard work. Aspirin could lower the blood pressure but it is not recommended to take on a daily basis. According to the American Heart Association, aspirin is prescribed to patients who have a history of stroke or heart attack.

Lowering water intake is not the right way to lower blood pressure because staying well-hydrated is essentially important to keep the blood flow smooth and it also allows an easy pumping enabling a healthy heart.

To lead a healthy life, it is significant to analyze every slight change in the body and regular checkups from family physicians are also highly recommended.

Mysterious Origin Of Strokes Due To Silent Heart Attacks

Silent heart attacks are the ones that occur but show little to no signs or symptoms. They may be consistent and might be mistaken for indigestion, muscles ache, nausea, or severe flu. You may not experience any kind of chest pain or shortness of breath in this condition. Silent heart attacks have been through detailed research and scientists believe that it might occur due to unknown mysterious origins that have been undiscovered yet. Having recurrent silent heart attacks will put you on the severe risk of heart attack that could be lethal.

Having heart attacks, again and again, will also lead to heart failure and ultimately death without knowing the original cause. Currently, there is no diagnostic test which can determine the state, type, and origin of silent heart attacks. But people can be checked according to their health conditions and risks factors. People at higher risk factor are often alerted and advised to maintain their health by keeping an eye on their blood pressure, cholesterol level, body weight, dietary habits, and physical activities. Lack of exercise, obesity and strong family history are the most prevalent factors that contribute to lower heart health.

According to an NIA-led study, a comparison of heart and brain imaging data from old aged participants have shown silent heart attacks depicts no sign, therefore, patients won’t go to hospitals for proper treatment and this will affect the cardiac health by scarring the heart. The damaged cardiac tissues are the main cause of raising the risk of stroke. The research teams of NIA, NHLBI, Weill Cornell Medical College and the Icelandic Heart Association collaborated and conducted a study by analyzing 930 participants aged around 75 years. This study includes their age, family history, and environment.

AGES is a study that examines genetic as wells as environmental risk factors according to their age and related diseases and disabilities. The results obtained after this study were published in JAMA Neurology on May 20.both cardiac and brain MRI has been done of all the participants which showed 153 participants had experienced undetected heart attack while the cardiac MRI of 308 gave evidence of cerebral infarction or stroke. About 43.8% of participants with evidence of silent heart attack also showed evidence of stroke in their brain MRI.

The unnoticed heart attacks were associated with ESUS, an embolic stroke of undetermined source. One-third of all the strokes account for all ischemic strokes which occur due to loss of oxygen supply via blood to the brain. The major trigger is the presence of clots or vascular debris inside the body. This vascular debris could be the byproduct of cardiac scarring due to silent heart attacks.

Scientists are planning further to study more about how this could be diagnosed, prevented and treated on time to avoid cardiac emergencies. All the results have been pointing the timing of attacks. The unrecognized origin of these silent heart attacks is currently acting as a new risk factor for more severe complications regarding cardiac health.

The Most Obese State in The US

Obesity is the most predominant and alarming condition all over the world. It could lead to a number of deadly diseases which involves a higher rate of mortality. Besides being an alarming symptom for other diseases, obesity is itself a disease that affects overall health as well as self-confidence. An obese individual cannot live a happy life as it alters personal and social skills. In the past few decades, obesity has been increased significantly. One out of three individuals is suffering from obesity.

A consumer protection advocacy group, ConsumerProtect, studied further into this matter and comes up with the most as well as the least states in the United States. This study showed that obesity is most prevalent in West Virginia with 38.1% of the population is obese. They have also indicated that the people within this region are the ones who are suffering from diabetes and poor other health conditions too.

According to this study, Mississippi is the second most obese state with people having no regular exercises and eating less than a small piece of fruit a day. Another health condition that this state showed is low life expectancy. On the other hand, Hawaii is the state with people having longer lives. They have approximately an average of 6.5 years of more life as compared to the people living in Mississippi. Hawaii has the third lowest rate of obesity in the whole country.

On the other hand, Colorado has the lowest rate of obesity with less than 23%. The people in this state east a healthy diet and stays on regular exercise which ultimately leads to a healthier life with the lowest risk of obesity. The people in this region have the lowest BMI score in the whole country. Out of the 51 states that have been studied by CDC, Washington lies at 51st place with 19.2% people having no physical activities that indicated the majority of the people are living with health standards.

Every individual in the country has to bear some personal as well as societal cost. A study showed that obese people face more costly as compared to normal healthy individuals. The annual added cost that most of the people with obesity face ranges from $1400 to $2700. Another study revealed that obese people are more likely to earn less as compared to normal healthy individuals. The Harvard School of Public Health writes: “Treating obesity and obesity-related conditions cost billions of dollars a year. By one estimate, the U.S. spent $190 billion on obesity-related health care expenses in 2005 — double previous estimates.” Therefore, it has been concluded that living with an excessive amount of body fat is an economic burden too.

In the end, it can be rightly said that prevention is the only key to stop such alarming conditions that might lead to co-morbidities and mortality. It critically affects a person’s abilities whether an as individual or as societal. The Harvard School of Public Health gives the ultimate solution in the following words, “Prevention is key to trimming obesity’s high costs.”