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September health news: What women don't know about high blood pressure
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High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a leading cause of death for North Americans. Find out what you need to know about this deadly disease.
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By Heather Camlot
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Women don't realize the potentially fatal fate of having high blood pressure, a new survey reveals. In fact, just over half of the women surveyed (52 per cent) said they were unaware that hypertension is the leading risk factor for death in North America.
The Leger Marketing survey questioned 2,000 Canadian women age 40 and older about their understanding of high blood pressure and the results are worrisome, says Dr. Sheldon Tobe, chairperson of the recommendations task force for the Canadian Hypertension Education Program.
The effects of high blood pressure
"Even though women were very concerned about cardiovascular disease, only one in three women thought high blood pressure was important, even though HBP is a major risk for stroke and heart attack," says Tobe.
Living with high blood pressure over time can damage blood vessel walls, leading to scarring and build-up of fatty plaque, which blocks arteries, according to the Heart & Stroke Foundation. High blood pressure also strains and weakens your heart and can cause blood vessels in the brain to burst, causing a stroke.
"High blood pressure is really critically important, particularly for women. Because women live so long compared to men, their overall lifetime exposure to high blood pressure is greater," adds Tobe. "For women who are above age 60, half of them already have high blood pressure, and over their lifetime, almost 100 per cent of women are going to develop high blood pressure."
High blood pressure and other health issues
Although nine in 10 women with high blood pressure recognized the increased risk for stroke and heart attack, those surveyed were unaware that hypertension put them at a greater risk for kidney failure (64 per cent), loss of vision (78 per cent) and dementia (86 per cent). "Stroke neurologists are realizing that for most people with Alzheimer's Disease, a component of their disease are from small strokes, and those small strokes are from high blood pressure," says Tobe.
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