When Bill woke in the hospital room, a smiling nurse was wrapping a sphygmomanometer around his right arm.
Terror gripped him when he tried to form the words, What happened? They got stuck in his brain and never made it to his mouth.
You've had a stroke, Dad. His daughter stood beside the bed, a tearful look of anguish in her eyes.
But... he tried to form the word, and found it to be impossible. What he wanted to say was -- what he wanted to scream was, BUT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH ME!
There had been something wrong with him, and it was silent and deadly. For some it gave warning, and for others it didn't...
An Equal Opportunity Killer
High Blood Pressure can strike anyone, at any time. It doesn't discriminate -- it will kill the young and the old, male or female, of any race or nationality. When it sneaks in to destroy your body it will come for a lot of reasons ? smoking, drinking, gaining too much weight, or high, unrelenting stress.
Bill invited it into his life through unrelenting stress coupled with a weight problem he ignored. As a front line supervisor and a workaholic, Bill worked long hours in a high pressure job, and let himself gain pounds until he weighed entirely too much.
He?d been too busy to see his doctor for a check up; in fact he hadn?t had one in years.
When the Silent Killer struck -- Bill had no idea what hit him.
The Damage to You
High blood pressure does tremendous damage to your body. The excessive pressure against your arteries and heart will steadily and seriously damage them over a period of time. Left untreated, it can cause kidney and eye damage, hardening of the arteries, heart attack and stroke.
Three out of 5 cases of heart attacks in women are due to high blood pressure.
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Pressure Institute (NHLBPI) has stated that Once high blood pressure develops, it usually lasts a lifetime.
And if it is left undiagnosed and untreated, that lifetime may be cut radically short.
The Fat Die Young
The problem with High Blood Pressure, is that it is getting little attention from the media and it is so common that it is thought to be almost ?a given? that people in the 40?s and above, particularly those in high stress jobs, will have it.
The main reason is that the 'bad boy' Obesity is getting all the press.
The media is obsessed with obesity as the number one American health problem, without making the connection between obesity and high blood pressure and they go hand in hand.
Studies have shown that obesity is inextricably linked with high blood pressure. In fact, the link is so strong that there is a medical term for it: obesity hypertension. 75% of all deaths in the US due to high blood pressure have the obesity connection.
There exists a direct chain reaction that begins when a person weighs too much: obesity results in high blood pressure, high blood pressure results in heart disease, and heart disease results in death.
Seven Steps to Catching the Silent Killer
Will the killer sneak into your house, or is he already there? There are six things you must do to stop him from getting in, or catch him if he is inside.
1)Get regular check ups.
There is only one way to find out if you have high blood pressure, and that is to get a check up. Most doctors? routinely use a sphygmomanometer which consists of a pressure gauge and rubber cuff that wraps around your arm and inflates to constrict arteries. You can also purchase one to take your own blood pressure at home.
2)If you smoke, stop.
If you can't stop by yourself, get counseling to help you do so.
3)Cut down on the drinking (or quit altogether).
4)Get regular exercise.
Turn off the television and go outside. Go for a walk that lasts at least 30 minutes every day or join a health club that allows you to exercise regularly indoors.
5) Lose weight.
There are charts on the Internet that lists how much you should weigh for your height. If you can't lose weight on your own, get help from a support group.
6) Take your medicine.
If you have already been diagnosed by your doctor as having high blood pressure, take your prescriptions faithfully. If you experience side effects, be sure you have made these known to your doctor.
7) Investigate natural alternatives to prescription medicine.
The medical profession tends to equate ?alternative remedies with quackery for three primary reasons:
-- Alternative remedies involving herbs are not subject to FDA regulation
-- Ignorance. Alternative remedies are not part of physicians' education
-- Pharmaceutical companies that make their living by producing and encouraging the use of drugs.
There are many alternatives to drugs that are very effective, not the least of which are simply good diet and exercise. If, however, you have been put on medication, do not make any changes without seeing your doctor.
The One Thing You Must Do
All very glibly said. Stop smoking. Lose weight. etc. and etc. You've heard it all before, and they sound easy when written down on paper.
But -- realistically -- what do you have to do to accomplish these things? To get to the place you need to be to bring high blood pressure down to normal levels?
The answer: YOU MUST PLAN
The one thing you must do is to plan a long term strategy to reduce your weight, limit your alcohol consumption, stop smoking and reduce stress levels. These will involve radical lifestyle changes and a long term commitment. They are not going to be accomplished overnight, and will come only with determined effort and effective planning.
The Plan
If Bill had been aware of his high blood pressure and the serious consequences of allowing it to go unchecked, and if he had done something about it, he wouldn't be in the situation we left him at the beginning of this article.
By the time he reached the hospital bed, the entire right side of his body was paralyzed from a stroke brought on by the unseen killer. It was too late.
Bill had not been going to the doctor for regular checkups, and he didn't know he was about to be the killer's next victim. Had he known, and had he known what he must accomplish to get off the killer?s ?hit list?, he would have begun planning how to change his lifestyle in order to stop the damage it was causing.
The real question, though, is will YOU do it? Will you get the check-up you need, and if the diagnosis is positive, will you formulate a plan NOW to make the lifestyle changes necessary to beat the killer?
Don't wait until it strikes ? then it will be too late.
John Young is a writer with a scientific background. At the age of 62, he has discovered several natural and effective methods for coping with common medical problems such as high blood pressure. He is recommending an excellent ebook that formulates a 60 day plan for changing a life-threatening lifestyle, The Silent Killer Exposed. You can discover other alternative remedies at http://www.health-medicine-alternatives.com/
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