High Blood Pressure

Chapter 15
 What is it?
• Hypertension
• Blood Pressure: Force exerted by the blood on
vessel walls, and is created by the pumping
action of the heart.
• Normal: 120 over 80
• High: 140 over 90
 Causes
• Increased output of blood or increased
resistance to blood flow.
• Atherosclerosis: disease that allows arteries to
be clogged and narrowed.
• Scars and hardens arteries.
 Health Risks
• High blood pressure is often called the silent
killer because it usually has no symptoms.
• Risks: heart attack, congestive heart failure,
stroke, kidney failure, and blindness
• Primary hypertension
• Secondary hypertension
 Prevalence

• Hypertension is common.
• 33% of adults have hypertension
• 37% of adults have prehypertension
• The rate of hypertension is highest in African
Americans 41%
 Treatment
• Lifestyle changes are recommended for
everyone with prehypertension and
hypertension.
• Changes: weight reduction, regular exercise, a
healthy diet, and moderation of alcohol.
• Eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole
grains and increasing potassium and fiber
intake.
 Tobacco Use
• About 1 in 5 deaths are attributable to
smoking
• Nicotine increases blood pressure and heart
rate
• Tobacco raises the level of our “bad”
cholesterol or LDL, and reduces the level of
our “good” cholesterol or HDL
Breast Cancer
Chapter 16
 Breast Cancer

• Breast cancer is the most common cancer in

women.
• Breast cancer causes almost as many deaths
as lung cancer
• 1 in 7 will develop breast cancer
• 182,000 women are diagnosed each year
• 41,000 women die each year
 Risk Factors
• Genetics
• Menstruation
• Obesity
• Alcohol
 Early Detection
• Mammogram
– 40 years or older recommended every year.
– MRI
– Digital Mammogram
– Ultrasound Technology
• Clinical Breast Exam
– Ages 20-39
• Breast Self-Exams
– Begin at age 20
 Treatment
• 90% of the people who have lumps and have had them
checked out were only found to be a cyst or other harmless
growth.
• The other 10% found are cancer cells.
• There are a variety of surgeries available.
• The surgeries can range from a lumpectomy (which is just
the removal of the lump and the surrounding tissue) to a
mastectomy (which is the whole removal of the breast.
• To see if the cancer has spread, lymph nodes from the
armpit may be removed and examined.
• If they find cancer cells in the body, they try to slowly kill it
with additional therapy, such as radiation, chemotherapy, or
both.
New Strategies for Treatment and Prevention

• A big prevention for woman at high risk is to talk to

their doctor to see if Tamoxifen is right for them.
• Tamoxifen is used to reduce the risk of breast cancer
in healthy women who are at high risk for the disease.
• Although Tamoxifen is a good prevention to getting
breast cancer, it has some serious side effects.
• The side effects are an increased risk of blood clots
and uterine cancer while using Tamoxifen.