(May 5, 2010)  You can have high blood pressure for years and never experience a single symptom. But, the silent killer is slowly damaging your heart, blood vessels, kidneys and other parts of the body. May is National High Blood Pressure Education Month, and health professionals encourage everyone to educate themselves about this serious health condition affecting one in every three adults.

About 72 million Americans have high blood pressure. Most people with high blood pressure require lifelong treatment. The nearly 60 million people in this country over the age of 55 have a 90% risk of developing high blood pressure in their lifetimes. Heart disease is our nation’s number one cause of death, stroke is number three and kidney failure is number nine. High blood pressure contributes to all of these conditions.

Blood pressure is the force of the blood against the walls of the arteries. When the force stays too high, it can be life threatening. Continued high blood pressure makes the heart work harder, hardens the walls of the arteries and can cause the brain to hemorrhage or the kidneys to function poorly or not at all. Every year, uncontrolled high blood pressure is a factor in more than one million heart attacks, strokes, heart failure and kidney disease.

Every time the heart beats -- 60 or 70 times a minute during rest -- it sends blood throughout the body. Different activities may briefly raise blood pressure, but it becomes a concern when it stays too high all or most of the time.

The first number of the blood pressure reading is the systolic pressure, or the pressure as the heart beats, and the second reading is the diastolic pressure, or the pressure as the heart relaxes between beats.

Whether or not you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, there are steps you can take to help control or prevent the onset of high blood pressure. These steps include:

• Educate yourself. Know your blood pressure and have it checked regularly.
• Eat a diet high rich in fruits, vegetables and whole-grain, high-fiber foods.
• Maintain a healthy weight. Sometimes, a weight loss of even 10 pounds can lower blood pressure. If you need to lose weight, talk to your doctor about a healthy eating plan you can follow for life.
• Engage in physical activity for at least 30 minutes most days. If you are not used to regular exercise, have heart trouble or have other serious health problems, talk to your doctor before starting an exercise program.
• Reduce salt or sodium in your diet. Limit salty foods and don’t use salt in food preparation. (Since sodium isn’t limited to the salt you put on your food, read labels. Many prepared foods are high in sodium content.)
• If you choose to drink alcohol, do so only in moderation. (Moderation is one drink a day for women and two for men.)
• If your doctor has prescribed medication to help lower your blood pressure, do not stop the medication or skip doses without talking with your doctor. Even if your blood pressure readings are consistently in the normal range, you still have high blood pressure and need to continue your treatment plan. (Remember that a prescription is not a license to stop exercising and following a healthy diet.)
• If you have diabetes, work with your doctor to control blood sugar levels.
• Quit smoking. Smoking injures blood vessel walls and speeds up the process of hardening of the arteries.
• Learn healthy ways to cope with the stress in your life.
• Since high blood pressure often runs in families, encourage family members to have their blood pressure checked.

Fortunately, high blood pressure is easy to diagnose. If you develop high blood pressure, it can usually be controlled with lifestyle measures and medication. The good news is that while the incidence of high blood pressure continues to increase, improved treatments can usually keep readings within the desired range.