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Article: High Blood Pressure; Facts to Know.(Disease/Disorder overview)
- Article from:
- NWHRC Health Center - High Blood Pressure
- Article date:
- March 15, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 National Women's Health Resource Center. 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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Up to 65 million Americans have high blood pressure. It kills 50,000 people a year, and is a contributing factor in an estimated 261,000 deaths.
More men than women have hypertension until women reach menopause, when a woman's risk becomes greater than a man's.
About half of the 65 million Americans with high blood pressure are women, with the incidence becoming greater in women as they get older. About 20 percent of white women and 30 to 40 percent of African-American women have high blood pressure, and the prevalence rises to 80 percent in women over age 70.
Your blood pressure consists of two numbers -- the systolic pressure and the ...