High blood pressure is also known as hypertension and it has been given the nickname of the 'silent killer'. Hypertension can be a fatal condition which develops slowly over a long period of time and most people do not experience any symptoms of the condition at all. As a result of its lack of signs and symptoms, high blood pressure often goes undiagnosed and untreated.

It was estimated that in the region of 50 million adults in the United States were suffering from high blood pressure in the early 1990’s and this figure has been climbing steadily ever since. By the turn of this century it was estimated that in the region of 65 million people were suffering from high blood pressure and today that figure is now over 72 million. In other words, approximately one in three adults in the United States today is suffering from high blood pressure.

Here are just some of the things revealed by recent studies:

30% of people with high blood pressure are not aware of their condition and are therefore not receiving any treatment.

15% of the people know that they have high blood pressure but either they are not getting any treatment for it or they do not bother to follow the recommended treatment.

25% of high blood pressure sufferers are aware of their condition but do not at present have their condition under control.

What this means is that only about 30% of those people with hypertension are presently receiving the correct treatment and have the condition under control.

Although it is often said that it is not possible to tell if a person has high blood pressure there are a few tell-tale signs which may indicate that you have hypertension.  Some of these signs and symptoms include headaches, dizziness, blurred vision and nausea.

High blood pressure is one of the major causes of death in the US today and it greatly raises the risk of several life threatening conditions such as cardiovascular disease, heart failure, heart attack and kidney failure.

Due to the nature of this condition it is sensible to keep an eye on things by checking your blood pressure at regular intervals and this can be done by visiting your doctor and asking for a blood pressure check. However, this is not always convenient and so a better option is to simply check your own pressure at home. There are a number of blood pressure monitors available today for use at home and these are both quick and simple to use and are also reasonably inexpensive.

Having your own blood pressure monitor means that you can keep an eye on blood pressure for the whole family and will give you considerable peace of mind and allow you to pick up any developing problems at a stage at which they can be easily treated.

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