Doctor talks high blood pressure, gives advice how to deal with it
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — After recent changes to the way high blood pressure is determined, a Greenwood mom is learning more about what doctors call ‘the silent killer.”
New guidelines out two weeks ago mean 30 million more Americans have what’s considered high blood pressure or hypertension.
Now 34, Holly Longshore was 19 and swimming for IUPUI when she was diagnosed with and began managing hypertension.
Her diagnosis came after a routine physical.
She says without the check-up, she may have never known.
“All those years that I was borderline, I should have been paying better attention I think for somebody maybe in my situation newly diagnosed then they’ll be able to pay better attention and maybe catch something sooner,” Longshore said.
Doctors say, unlike Longshore, not everyone under the new guidelines will need medication.
“This wasn’t a push by the pharmacuetical companies to get more patients on drugs. It was a push by our heart societies, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association to keep Americans healthy,” said Dr. Julie Clary, a cardiologist with IU Health.
This is the first update to the guidelines in 14 years.
Doctors are hoping that hypertension in the headlines this month will mean more people talking with their doctors about their risk.