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Article: High blood pressure: controlling the silent killer. (includes related articles)
- Article from:
- FDA Consumer
- Article date:
- December 1, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 U.S. Government Printing Office. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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More than 61 million people in the United States have high 24 blood pressure, or hypertension, and nearly half don't even know they have it, according to the American Heart Association.
Because high blood pressure usually doesn't give early warning signs, it is known as the "silent killer." Nearly 33,000 Americans died of diseases related to high blood pressure in 1990 (the latest year for which figures are available), reports the National Center for Health Statistics, and that doesn't include deaths from heart attacks and strokes caused by hypertension.
High blood pressure increases the risk of stroke seven times, says Fletcher McDowell, M.D., of the ...