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Article: What is high blood pressure?(diagnosis, treatment of hypertension and health risks among African Americans)
- Article from:
- Black Enterprise
- Article date:
- May 1, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Earl G. Graves Publishing Co., Inc. 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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Having high blood pressure, which doctors call hypertension, and not knowing it, or knowing it and not taking control, is like walking around with a time bomb ticking inside your body: You never know when it will explode.
Unfortunately, there are no symptoms to warn you that your blood pressure is spiraling out of control until it has already caused damage such as heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. This absence of early warning symptoms is why high blood pressure is called the "silent killer."
Although about 50 million American adults have high blood pressure, a higher percentage of African Americans--nearly 40 percent higher than whites--suffers ...