healthy lifestyle

HYPERTENSION (also referred to as high blood pressure)

  *  23% of Americans aged 20-74 have hypertension.

  * Over three quarters of women aged 75 and over have
  hypertension.

  * 64% of men aged 75 and over have hypertension.

  * As many as 50 million Americans age 6 and older have
  hypertension.

  * Hypertension is most prevalent in the African American
  population. It affects about one out of every three African
  Americans.

  * One in five Americans has hypertension.

  * Non-Hispanic blacks and Mexican Americans are more likely to
  suffer from hypertension than are non-Hispanic whites.

  * Over 14,000 deaths each year are attributed to hypertension.

  * Complications include: heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and
  blindness.

Source: Health, United States, 2000
American Heart Association
National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 48, No. 11