High blood pressure on the rise among young adults

Friday, October 29, 2010 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: high blood pressure, young adults, health news

(NaturalNews) Rates of high blood pressure have remained fairly steady over the past ten years in every category except one: young adults between the ages of 18 and 39. According to a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), increasing numbers of young adults are developing high blood pressure, and more young people than ever are now taking blood pressure medication for the condition.

"[I] got upset when I first found out because I automatically associated it with people who are overweight or old," explained Kristen Pessalano, a 23-year-old woman with high blood pressure, in an ABC News article. "I would have never associated high blood pressure with someone my age, especially when I appeared to be totally healthy."

And there are likely millions of other young adults like Kristen who think they are safe just because of their age, without taking into account their dietary and lifestyle habits. The modern American diet is loaded with high levels of bad fat, processed sodium, highly-refined sweeteners, and artificial chemical additives, all of which contribute to high blood pressure and heart disease.

"I'm not surprised that more and more young people are being treated for high blood pressure since the incidence of obesity, a contributing cause for high blood pressure, is increasing in this age group," Dr. Randal Thomas, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is quoted as saying by ABC News.

According to the American Heart Association, roughly 30 percent of all adults suffer from elevated blood pressure levels, which will likely develop into full-blown high blood pressure and other forms of heart disease if not addressed nutritionally. To learn more about high blood pressure and how to prevent and treat it, visit:
https://www.naturalnews.com/high_blood_pressu...

Sources for this story include:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Hypertension/hy...