Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Section 1: Your High Blood Pressure     What Is Blood Pressure?     Testing for High Blood Pressure     How Do You Rate? Section 2: Taking Action to Control High Blood Pressure     Lose weight if you are overweight     Be physically active     Choose foods low in salt & sodium     Limit your alcohol intake     Take your high blood pressure pills     Types of Medications     Possible side effects Section 3: Special Concerns     Women taking birth control pills     Older persons     African Americans     People with diabetes     People with high blood cholesterol Section 4: For More Information A Sample Walking Program Menu Ideas and Recipes Generic Names of High Blood Pressure Drugs Glossary

Lowering Your Blood Pressure is Up to You Today, more and more people are having their blood pressure tested and controlled. But many others either never bother to check their blood pressure or stop following their doctors orders. Unfortunately, high blood pressure will not simply go away. Ignoring it is very dangerous. You must accept that treatment is important. You must also accept that, while its up to the doctor to prescribe the best treatment to lower your blood pressure, its your job to follow through with that treatment. "Follow through" includes making lifestyle changes and having your progress checked, since your treatment needs probably will change over time. For instance, some people need to cut back more on sodium, lose weight, or begin taking a drug; other people may be able to reduce or, in some cases, stop taking drugs. If you need help making changes, contact your doctor, a pharmacist, registered dietitian or qualified nutritionist, or other health care professional. Only by taking change of your health will you get the most from your treatment. So start now to lower your high blood pressure: Treat it for life! High Blood Pressure: Treat it for Life Years ago, having high blood pressure often meant withdrawing from life. Many people had to retire early and stop doing favorite activities. Little was known about the condition and there was no effective treatment. Today, that has changed. People with high blood pressure can have a full life. With lifestyle changes, they may be able to lower their blood pressure without taking a medicine. And many of the steps that improve their health can also keep others in their family from ever getting high blood pressure. This booklet will tell you about high blood pressure---what it means and what to do about it. High blood pressure still has no cure. Once high blood pressure occurs, it usually lasts a lifetime. You can lower it with treatment. But stop treating it and it goes up again. So Lower Your High Blood Pressure And Have A Full, Active Life! Next Page > Portions of this booklet have appeared in "High Blood Pressure & What You Can Do About it," by Dr. Marvin Moser, published and copyrighted by The Benjamin Company, Inc., White Plains, NY. Used here by permission. National High Blood Pressure Education Program, NHLBI Obesity Education Initiative, Coordinated by the National, Lung, and Blood Institute. For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328, ISBN 0-16-045176-0.

Section 1	Section 2	Section 3	Section 4
Walking Program	Menu Ideas	HBP Drug Names	Glossary

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute NIH Publication No. 94-3312 August 1994

National Institutes of Health

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute