Myths About Higher Blood Pressure

An approximated 1 in 3 American adults have higher blood pressure, also called hypertension, in accordance to a 2013 post published in the American Coronary heart Association's journal, "Circulation." Hypertension is outlined as a systolic blood stress -- when the coronary heart is contracted -- of at minimum 140 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure -- when the heart relaxes -- of at least ninety mmHg. Untreated higher blood stress damages the vital organs of the physique and increases the danger of stroke and heart attack, so it is essential to get this condition diagnosed and handled. Sadly, high blood stress is not nicely comprehended and some people may not look for healthcare guidance as early as they ought to simply because they believe the typical myths about the condition.

Myth:

"I Would Know"Many people believe they would have signs and symptoms, such as headaches, dizziness, nosebleeds, flushing of the face, perspiring or anxiety, if they experienced high blood stress. The Joint Nationwide Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Therapy of High Blood Stress cautioned in a 2003 report that roughly thirty % of grownups with hypertension are unaware of their condition simply because they feel relatively nicely. By the time they begin to have symptoms, generally when their blood pressure reaches at least one hundred eighty/one hundred mmHg, harm to the heart, eyes, blood vessels and other organs has currently happened.

Fantasy:

"I Can't Stop It"Some individuals have a greater danger of creating higher blood pressure, including those with a family history of hypertension, these more than sixty five and certain racial and ethnic teams. But residing a healthy lifestyle can stop or at least delay the development of higher blood stress. Maintaining a regular weight, exercising at least thirty minutes most times of the 7 days, and subsequent a reduced-fat, high-produce, reduced-sodium diet can assist to stop or delay hypertension. Other useful measures consist of avoiding cigarette smoking, reducing tension, and limiting alcohol to no more than two beverages per working day for men and one drink for each day for women. Lifestyle modifications also decrease the risk of coronary heart illness and enhance the usefulness of medications if you currently have hypertension.

Fantasy:

 "I Don't Need to Check Blood Stress at Home"At-home blood pressure readings can provide beneficial info to health care companies. In some cases, at-house readings are reduce than those taken at the doctor's workplace, a phenomenon known as "white-coat hypertension." This phenomenon impacts as many as 10 to 20 percent of these with high blood pressure, in accordance to a September 2008 article printed in the "Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine." In those circumstances, the treatment plan might be considered effective if at-home readings are inside the target variety established by the well being care supplier, even if in-office readings are still high.
At-home readings are also helpful for physicians to evaluate how efficient medications are. Your doctor may need to adjust your medications if you do not attain your goal degree of less than one hundred forty/ninety mmHg. In accordance to the Joint Nationwide Committee on Prevention, Detection, Analysis, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure, as numerous as two/3 of patients on medicine drop into this class and need adjustments to their therapy ideas.

Fantasy:

"Coffee Causes High Blood Stress"While diet and lifestyle impact blood stress, research indicates the effects of caffeine on the body might only be temporary. So, avoiding caffeine prior to getting your blood pressure checked might enhance the accuracy of the studying but lengthy-phrase results may be seen only in these who drink five cups or more of coffee a working day. Nutritional modifications that assist reduce higher blood pressure consist of increasing fruits and veggies and decreasing the amount of salt and fat consumed every working day. Low-salt diet programs seem to be more effective in decreasing blood pressure in African People in america than in other populace teams, in accordance to the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Therapy of High Blood Stress.

13 eye-opening figures about wearable tech

Google Glass has become synonymous with the term "wearable tech." (Photo courtesy Google)

Wearable computing is the next big wave in electronics, according to various self-proclaimed oracles in the technology industry.

That's why there's all this recent hubbub about Google Glass, the Internet-connected glasses-mounted computer. It's also why rumormongers won't cease in discussing a possible Apple watch of some kind. And it's why your neighbor won't take off his Nike FuelBand or Jawbone Up or Fitbit, even though it makes him look like he just got discharged by the local hospital.

If you've ever seen or read a work of science fiction, it becomes rather clear as to why wearable computing technology is embraced with such zeal: aside from being more aesthetically appealing than today's mostly cuboid electronic devices, it is a step closer to the convergence of natural and artificial embodied by the cyborg, the person made superhuman thanks to the biological integration of electromechanical elements.

Not everyone wants to fuse transistors to their precious skin. But putting on a pair of glasses or a watch or an LED-studded rubber wristband? Yeah, they can get behind that. (Especially if it spells an end to the hunched-over position we all take regularly while using today's mobile devices.)

Rackspace, the U.S. IT hosting company, has an indirect stake in all of this. While it doesn't manufacture fancy glasses or anything like that, it does provide storage and other services for businesses in the cloud. In short, if the future is more Internet-connected than it is today, Rackspace and its peers stand to profit.

To explore this future, the company commissioned a study on wearable technology from the Centre for Creative and Social Technology at Goldsmiths, University of London. The survey asked 4,000 adults in the U.S. and U.K. for their thoughts on the concept.

Their responses were rather interesting.

Thirteen eyebrow-raising data points:

82 percent of Americans and 71 percent of Brits said that cloud-powered devices have enhanced their lives.71 percent of Americans and 63 percent of Brits said that wearable tech has "improved their health and fitness."One in three respondents of both countries said that wearable tech has "helped their career development."53 percent of Americans and 39 percent of Brits said that wearable tech has "made them feel more intelligent."54 percent of Americans and 46 percent of Brits said wearable tech has boosted their self-confidence.60 percent of Americans and 53 percent of Brits said that wearable tech "helps them feel more in control of their lives."36 percent of Americans and 27 percent of Brits said that they use wearable tech "to enhance their love lives."22 percent of Americans and 19 percent of Brits said they would be "willing to use a wearable device that monitors location for central government activity."One in three respondents of both countries said they would be willing to use a wearable health and fitness monitor that shares personal data with the government's health agency or a healthcare provider.Nonetheless, 51 percent of respondents cited privacy as a barrier to adoption.62 percent of respondents said they believe wearable devices should be regulated in some form, with 20 percent calling for an outright ban.Just 18 percent of those surveyed said they have actually used wearable technology.Of those who use it, 13 percent said they "never remove the device" and an additional 7 percent admitted to checking it "at least once every five minutes."

So who are these people, you ask? A mix of curious experience seekers, productivity pursuers and the health conscious, according to the study. 

For more about this, read my colleague Steve Ranger's interview with researcher Chris Brauer, the fellow who led the study.

Sometimes the strongest among us are the ones who smile through silent pain, cry behind closed doors and fight battles nobody knows about.

Sometimes the strongest among us are the ones who smile through silent pain, cry behind closed doors and fight battles nobody knows about.