What's Your Blood Pressure Reading?

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If you don't know, that's a problem.

"High blood pressure -- often called the 'silent killer' because it has no symptoms -- increases a person's chances for heart disease, stroke and other serious problems. But it's easy to check for and usually can be controlled through exercise, diet and medicine."

The Associated Press has more:

The lives of nearly 8,000 black Americans could be saved each year if doctors could figure out a way to bring their average blood pressure down to the average level of whites, a surprising new study found.

The gap between the races in controlling blood pressure is well-known, but the resulting number of lives lost startled some scientists.

... Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher said changes need to be made to make sure minority patients can get good medical care when they need it. But there also needs to be more done to make sure patients understand medical directions and feel comfortable asking questions when they don't.

Geoffrey Bennett

Tags: blood pressure

2:58 PM ET | 11-11-2008 | permalink

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