Minority Women's Health

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High Blood Pressure

Minority Women's Health > Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians > Health Topics > High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure happens when blood can't flow easily through your blood vessels. This puts pressure on your vessels, which damages the vessels and strains your heart. As a result, blood doesn't flow as well to your organs, and you can have a heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure.

High blood pressure has no symptoms. See your doctor once a year to have your blood pressure checked.

Among Asian American/Pacific Islander women, high blood pressure is more of a problem for Filipino women. But, all Asian American/Pacific Islander women have much lower blood pressure screening rates than other minority women. Some things increase your chances of having high blood pressure: increasing age (middle aged or older), diabetes, obesity (or being overweight), alcohol use, eating too much salt, a family history of high blood pressure, and not exercising.

Making some lifestyle changes can help prevent or control high blood pressure.

• If you are overweight, lose weight. Losing just 10 pounds can lower your blood pressure.
• Get moving. Aim for 30 minutes of exercise a day, most days of the week. Try taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Or, walk during breaks at work.
• Eat right. Eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Choose low-fat dairy products. Eat less salt.
• Don't smoke. If you smoke, try to quit. For help along the way, check out our Quitting Smoking section.
• If you drink alcohol, have no more than one drink per day.

Publications

1.     DASH* to the Diet: Prevent and Control High Blood Pressure Following the DASH Eating Plan — This updated booklet contains a week's worth of sample menus and recipes recalculated using 2005 nutrient content data. The "Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension" eating plan features plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other foods that are heart healthy and lower in salt/sodium. It also provides additional information on weight loss and physical activity.

   http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/mission/partner/healthy_eating.pdf

2.     Filipinos Aspire for Healthy Hearts: Keep Your Heart in Check — Know Your Blood Pressure Number — This easy-to-read, bilingual Tagalog and English booklet explains what high blood pressure is, how to read your blood pressure number, and ways to keep blood pressure in the normal range.

   http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/other/filipino_facts/filipino-hbp.pdf...

3.     Prevent and Control High Blood Pressure: Mission Possible — This fact sheet for people with high blood pressure provides information on risks associated with high blood pressure and tips for preventing and controlling it. It is designed for clinicians to give to patients.

   http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/mission/partner/should_know.pdf

4.   Take Care of Your Heart. Manage Your Diabetes. — The National Diabetes Education Program's "Take Care of Your Heart" campaign encourages Asian-Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians with diabetes to take steps now to reduce their risk of heart attacks or strokes, the leading killers of people with diabetes. The campaign also focuses on the importance of family support. Through this site, you can access different Asian-language versions of this campaign.

   http://ndep.nih.gov/publications/PublicationDetail.aspx?PubId=127

5.     Vietnamese Aspire for Healthy Hearts: Keep Your Heart in Check — Know Your Blood Pressure Number — This easy-to-read, bilingual Vietnamese and English booklet explains what high blood pressure is, how to read your blood pressure number, and ways to keep blood pressure in the normal range.

   http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/other/viet_facts/viet-hbp.pdf

6.     Your Guide to Lowering Blood Pressure With DASH — Get with the plan that is clinically proven to significantly reduce blood pressure! This booklet offers a week's worth of sample menus and recipes created to follow the most recent nutritional guidelines. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan features plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other foods that are heart healthy and lower in salt and sodium. It also provides additional information on weight loss and physical activity.

   http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/new_dash.pdf

7.   Your Guide to Lowering High Blood Pressure — This Web site has an interactive guide that answers common questions about high blood pressure and offers tips and quizzes. It also provides information on medications and suggestions on how to talk to your doctor.

   http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/index.html

8. High Blood Pressure (Copyright © American Heart Association) — High blood pressure is a common but symptomless condition. Knowing about your genetic predispositions, making simple lifestyle changes, and talking to your doctor can help you reduce the risk of high blood pressure. This interactive Web site includes information on all this and more.

   http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2114

Organizations

1.   CDC's WISEWOMAN — Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation
2.   Heart Truth
3. National Asian Women's Health Organization
4. WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women With Heart Disease

= Indicates Federal Resources

Resources reviewed March 2008.