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Doc: Younger people need to be aware of hypertension risk

Fast food and sedentary lifestyle can do irreparable harm with few warning signs.

Blood pressure trouble came with no warning

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By Kelly Mori, Staff Writer 8:10 PM Saturday, December 12, 2009

SPRINGFIELD — When it comes to controlling high blood pressure, most senior adults can quote chapter and verse.

But as lifestyles and diets become less healthy, it’s their children and grandchildren who now need the sermon.

“We are developing high blood pressure at younger ages because of the habits we have,” Springfield cardiologist Dr. Salim Dahdah said. “We have more overweight people, more diabetes.”

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is appropriately called the silent killer because it can cause irreparable harm to the heart and other organs before the individual is aware of a problem.

“When you’re young, your body can take a lot of abuse without being aware of it,” he said. “The first organ to be affected (by hypertension) is your heart — it starts to thicken. It could take several years for symptoms to appear.”

Springfield South High School graduate Daniel McGath was 34 when he learned that undetected high blood pressure had destroyed both of his kidneys. Now the father of one has to be on dialysis 12 hours a week while he waits for a kidney transplant. He is on a two-year waiting list.

“I had absolutely no symptoms before that,” said McGath, who now lives in Logan County.

A blood pressure check is the only way to determine where you stand, Dahdah said. He recommends that individuals, starting in their teens, check their blood pressure regularly. Many drugstores and grocers have free blood pressure machines in the pharmacy areas.

An adult’s blood pressure should be lower than 120 over 80 (measures as mm Hg - millimeters of mercury).

Lifestyle changes can help.

Lowering your sodium is one way to lower your blood pressure, Dahdah said. Fast food and convenience foods are some of the biggest culprits when it comes to sodium, he said.

”Ask yourself, ‘What am I eating?’ ” he said “If you’re eating a lot of pizza, french fries, canned soups, you need to eliminate them and go for fresh or frozen foods.”

Adults should limit their sodium to 2,300 mg a day, according to the American Health Association. High-risk individuals should keep sodium below 1,500 mg.

A sedentary lifestyle, as well as smoking, alcohol and drug use — including over-the-counter drugs — also contribute, he said.

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