Silent Killer: High Blood Pressure Increases Your Risk of Stroke & Dementia, How To Control It: NPR

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Got Hypertension/High Blood Pressure? 🧡 NPR, Sept. 7, 2025.

By age 40, more than half of Americans have high blood pressure, but many are unaware of it.

Hypertension has long been known as the silent killer. When it's left untreated it can be deadly. And it's considered a silent threat since most people have no symptoms. You can't feel the pressure in your blood vessels increasing. New recommendations from the American Heart Association aim for early treatment, including lifestyle changes and medications, once systolic blood pressure rises above 130/80 mm Hg, (which stands for millimeters of mercury, a measure of pressure).

Experts say it's clear that the sooner you take action, the more you can protect yourself. Hypertension is a leading cause of heart disease, which is the #1 cause of death of both men and women in the U.S. High blood pressure also increases the risk of kidney disease and dementia. And, research shows that hypertension can lead to damage in small blood vessels in the brain, which is linked to cognitive decline.

"There's a really enormous preventive health opportunity in treating hypertension earlier," says Dr. Jordana Cohen, a nephrologist and hypertension specialist at the University of Pennsylvania. She says millions of adults in the U.S. could benefit from medications and lifestyle changes. "If you catch it early, and treat it early, you can end up with many more years of healthy life expectancy," Cohen says, pointing to a reduced risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney damage and dementia.

The new guidelines point to decades old advice about the benefits of a low-sodium diet, which can be challenging to follow, given more than half the calories consumed in the U.S. come from ultra-processed foods, which tend to be high in salt. The new guidelines also emphasize lifestyle strategies including exercise, limiting alcohol consumption, and stress reduction in the form of meditation, yoga, or deep breathing. For people with systolic blood pressure (the upper number) in the 130s, the recommendation is to start with these diet and lifestyle-related changes, then move to medication if blood pressure doesn't improve...

More,
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/09/07/nx-s1-5532108/the-silent-killer-increases-your-risk-of-stroke-and-dementia-heres-how-to-control-it