Quick Blood Pressure Facts

Quick Blood Pressure Facts

Who Has High Blood Pressure

• Women are about as likely as men to develop high blood pressure during their lifetimes. However, for people younger than 45 years, the condition affects more men than women. For people aged 65 years and older, it affects more women than men.
• About 28% of American adults aged 18 years or older have prehypertension.
• In the United States, high blood pressure is more common among blacks than whites. About 44% of black women have high blood pressure.
• Mexican-Americans have the lowest level of hypertension compared to non-Hispanic whites and blacks.

Health Impact of High Blood Pressure

• High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and kidney disease.
• High blood pressure was a primary or contributing cause of death for 336,353 Americans in 2007.
• There were more than 46 million visits to doctor’s offices for hypertension in 2007.

High Blood Pressure and Salt

• A diet high in sodium (salt) increases the risk for higher blood pressure.
• Most people eat more than double the amount of salt than they should.
• Current dietary guidelines for Americans recommend that adults in general should consume no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. At the same time, consume potassium-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables. However, if you are in the following population groups, you should consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day, and meet the potassium recommendation (4,700 mg/day) with food.

You are 51 years of age or older.

You are African American.

You have high blood pressure.

You have diabetes.

You have chronic kidney disease.

• About 77% of the sodium Americans consume comes from processed and restaurant foods.
• Watch this engaging video: Salt Matters: Preserving Choice, Protecting Health, available at http://www.cdc.gov/CDCTV/Salt_Matters to learn more about how salt affects your health

The above information was provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
The CDC website is a great resource for senior health related topics.