About one in three American adults suffer from high blood pressure.
Dr. Suhaib Haq, the Medical Director for the Robert L.M. Hilliard Center and board-certified family medicine and sleep medicine doctor said, "It is called the silent killer for a reason, because a lot of people have it and they don't know, so that's why we recommend early screening."
Dr. Haq told us some of the risk factors for high blood pressure. "Smoking and lack of exercise, being overweight, family history, and poor diet," he said.
Normal blood pressure is anything around or below 120 over 80. Above that until you get to 140 over 90 is considered pre-hypertension.
Once your blood pressure rises to 160 over 100 that is well within the range of high blood pressure. Any thing above 180 over 110 is considered a hypertensive crisis, and emergency care is needed right away.
One way to lower your blood pressure is a diet low in sodium. Dr. Haq told us, "The dash diet is a comprehensive lifestyle, where you focus primarily on a low sodium diet. You eat healthy fruits, vegetables, greens and low saturated fat diet to bring blood pressure lower."
One patient who got his blood pressure down was James Robbins. Smoking was a big factor in his hypertension. Robbins told us, "I have actually known about my blood pressure running high and I kind of hid it under the table and didn't really think much about it."
Because there are no symptoms of high blood pressure until it is too late, all men need to think about it and wear that gown.
For more men's health information call 210-358-3045. You can also find the rest of our Real Men Wear Gowns stories at WearTheGown.com.