Why is treating hypertension important in preventing heart disease?
Hypertension is a major risk factor for strokes and heart attacks. Also, hypertension increases the risk for heart failure. More than 85% of heart failure patients have been previously diagnosed with high blood pressure or the presence of coronary disease. A third of men and women have high blood pressure as the main cause of their heart failure. Also, most patients with blockages in their coronaries or who have diabetes also have high blood pressure. The lifetime risk of developing high blood pressure is about 90%. Lowering blood pressure can reduce the incidence of stroke by about 35% to 40%, heart attacks by 20% to 25% and heart failure by about 50%. What is peripheral vascular disease? Peripheral vascular disease is defined as blockages in the blood vessels of the body except those that supply the heart or the brain. Since all blood vessels in the body are part of the same vascular tree, blockages in the periphery are similar in nature to the coronaries or the arteries of the brain
