LIVEWELL MINUTE: Preventing High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is the most common, reversible risk factor for cardiovascular disease – and the leading cause of stroke.

Sheryl Herrold, RN, Cardiac Screening Nurse says, “High blood pressure is dangerous because it makes the heart work harder to pump blood to the body and it contributes to hardening of the arteries.”

One in four adults in America has high blood pressure, and nearly one-third of them don’t even know it. That puts them at risk for stroke, heart attack, heart failure and kidney disease.

Herrold says, “To prevent hypertension, individuals should have their blood pressure checked routinely and live a healthy lifestyle, including regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding tobacco, drinking alcohol in moderation and eating a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables and low in saturated fat and sodium.”

Getting checked is easy at a clinic, hospital or the HeartReach Mobile Lab as it makes its way around central Iowa.