Indicator and Determinants of High Blood Pressure

Modern medical advancements have significantly decreased the prevalence and severity of infectious disease as well as the treatment of acute, traumatic conditions. Pharmacological research has also gained insight into the management of chronic disease. Still, there is an epidemic of chronic, treatable diseases like stroke, heart disease, and kidney disease. Hypertension proves to be the underlying factor associated with these diseases. Hypertension is often referred to as the silent killer because of its indication in deadly disease, and the importance of monitoring ones blood pressure is vital. Lifestyle, diet, and genetic predisposition are all factors of high blood pressure. Chronic high blood pressure above safe levels, known as hypertension, puts elevated physical stress on the renal and cardiovascular systems. By controlling this factor in patients, healthcare providers can decrease cardiovascular events, improve health outcomes, and decrease overall mortality. Patient education is often overlooked in its role in the control and prevention of high blood pressure. This paper analyzes the causes and physiology behind high blood pressure as they relate to the current nursing interventions. The role of nurses is discussed in relation to patient education regarding high blood pressure, and educational approaches are analyzed.

Because hypertension can be asymptomatic, it is necessary to increase awareness of such a harmful condition. The lack of symptoms in individuals who have high blood pressure is a serious challenge that public health officials in the United States must face. [1]. High blood pressure is a grave problem in the United States because it affects many

* The U.S. High Blood Pressure Education Program is a public-private cooperative effort formed to help reduce death and disability related to hypertension, which is at the root of 50% of those suffering heart attacks and two-thirds of those suffering strokes. Using a campaign that integrates social marketing to first build awareness of the “silent killer,” and then encourage action, awareness of the problem more than tripled to over 90% and those seeking treatment more than doubled within a single decade.

Hypertension is a developing problem worldwide associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In 2020, the world population will be approximately 7.8 billion people, and there will be 1 billon people who may be affected by hypertension (Tomson & Lip, 2005). One in three adults in the United States has high blood pressure. According to the report “Health, United States, 2010 with Special Feature on Death and Dying,” the prevalence of hypertension among adults 20 years old or older increased from 24% to 32% during 1988-1994 and 2005-2008. The African-American population has a higher prevalence of this health condition than white Americans do. In 2005 to 2008, the prevalence of hypertension among black males (41.4%) was more than 10%,

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines High Blood Pressure as the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries, which carry blood from your heart to other parts of your body. Blood pressure normally rises and falls throughout the day. But if it stays high for a long time, it can damage your heart and lead to health problems. High blood pressure raises your risk for heart disease and stroke, which are leading causes of death in the United States. One out of every three adults over the age of twenty- that’s nearly eighty million Americans have high blood pressure. What’s more interesting is that nearly twenty percent don’t even know they don’t have it. Consequently, African American suffer more from this disease than any other race. According to the American Heart Association, forty percent of African American men and women have high blood pressure (AHA, 2016). Notably, adults twenty years and older consist of 42.6 percent are men and 47.0 percent are women that have this illness. For years’ researchers, have tried to understand why High Blood Pressure affect the African American at a higher rate than others. As a

The community used in this project is Prince Georges County Maryland. The population of interest used will include African American Males and Females ages 18 and above. This project is about organizing a health fair in Prince Georges County in which the selected population was educated about health care outcomes for high blood pressure; diabetes and obesity. Majority of the populace who attended the fair were either low income residents or uninsured. Diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure is known to have increased risk of stroke and heart disease (Sowers, Epstein, & Frohlich, 2001). Hypertension in African American population is considered to be highest across the globe as compared to white population. It is a silent killer as it

African Americans are known to struggle with hypertension more than any other race. The social problem described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) stated, African American men are more likely to have high blood pressure than whites, Hispanics, or Mexican American men and are more likely to be known as having high blood pressure. This difference steadily persists over time, from approximately 1988 through 2006 (pg.12). Studies have consistently reported a higher frequency of hypertension in blacks than in whites. In relations to these studies as mentioned by Fuchs (2011), There is a long list of putative causes for this higher prevalence proposes that the real reasons African Americans are rated higher with hypertension issues are still unknown. Biological differences are viewed in the mechanisms of blood pressure control or in the environment and habits of whites and blacks are named as the potential causes. Socioeconomic status plays a part in the outcomes of health and wellness and is measured mainly by health behaviors (education), health status (income), and health inequities. Income has been identified as a crucial factor affecting

African American has been plague with hypertension, otherwise known as high blood pressure or the “silent killer” for decades. It is estimated that approximately 72 million Americans - almost 1 in 3 adults – are affected by this disease (National Heart Lung Blood Institute (NHLBI)). However, hypertension is more common in African Americans than Whites and other ethnic groups for the different classifications of blood pressure levels. According to Rosamond et al., 2007” African Americans have the highest prevalence rate of hypertension in the world. For example, a national survey in the US, found that the age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension was 78.7% for non-Hispanic blacks, 46.7% for non-Hispanic whites, and 41.8% for Mexican-Americans

Hypertension is a very common problem, affecting 1 billion people worldwide, with 50 million cases in the United States, and one third of cases going undiagnosed. 1% of the cases will experience a hypertensive emergency in their life. (1,2)

As late as about seven decades ago, elevated blood pressure was considered by many expert physicians to be necessary for the adequate perfusion of vital organs. It was deemed as an unavoidable, hence essential, component of the aging process leading to the coining of the term “essential hypertension”. High blood pressure (BP) was considered as probable natural and necessary compensatory phenomenon that should be left alone even if there were effective treatments (Hay, 1931; White, 1937). This notion was further strengthened by the observed elevated misery and premature death recorded for the patients that were treated for hypertension with the few drugs that were available at the time compared to those that were left untreated (Goldring,

Roy age 60, male newly diagnosed with hypertension, noting previous office visit education presented and implemented in a plan to try diet changes and increase exercise. Following up with Roy presently, with results of unchanged blood pressure (for example: 150/94-hypertension stage 1) readings would direct conversation to explaining, blood is needed to circulate our bodies for survival. Having high blood pressure causes the walls of the arteries to demand higher than usual force, causing the heart to work harder to pump the necessary amount of blood needed throughout the body. In order to not overwork the heart or cause further cardiovascular complications, hypertension is initially treated with lifestyle modifications, if no improvement with

The rise in high blood pressure diagnosis could also be attributed to a general growth of hypertension awareness in the Canadian population. Expansions in educational campaigns on both macro and community levels within

This module contained a lot of information on numerous topics. We started with hypertension, high blood pressure. Blood pressure consists of two numbers, the diastolic and systolic. Systolic is the larger number that reflects the amount of blood pressure when the heart is contracting. Diastolic is the smaller number that reflects the amount of blood pressure when the heart is at rest. Patients with Hypertension are at an increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), atherosclerosis, heart attack and stroke. A stroke is the sudden interruption of blood flow to the brain. Ischemic and hemorrhagic are the two different types. An ischemic stroke, the more common type, is caused by the blockage of a blood vessel either inside the brain or leading

Hypertension is widely considered to be one of the most important risk factors of cardiovascular diseases (angina, arrhythmia, etc.). It is the second leading disease that causes mortality in the world. Hypertension is the condition when there is an increase in the force of blood on the walls of vessels. It can also be defined as an arterial blood pressure that is raised above 140/90 mm Hg (systolic/ diastolic BP). Hypertension can be classified into Secondary hypertension and Essential hypertension. When specific cause is evident but heredity, and various physiological parameters play a role in increasing blood pressure is known as Essential Hypertension. Secondary Hypertension is one where the cause is known. According to WHO guidelines between 2006 and 2015, deaths due to cardiovascular diseases are expected to increase by 17% while the deaths from infectious diseases, nutritional deficiencies, maternal and prenatal conditions are projected to decline by 3%. The main causes of hypertension includes the age ,hereditary, gender, extra weight, alcohol consumption, stress life, lazy life etc.

Factors that contribute to hypertension are age, ethnicity, gender, and lifestyles as shown in Figure 1 (Yoon, Burt, Louis, & Carroll, 2012). While the prevalence of hypertension is relatively equal among men and women, certain ethnicities have a higher propensity for developing hypertension. The prevalence of hypertension in African-Americans is among the highest in the United States for a single ethnic group (Ferdinand & Armani, 2007). In the United States, around 78% of people suffering from hypertension are aware of their condition, with only 68% using hypertensive medications to control their blood