High blood pressure (hypertension) is one of the 10 most expensive health conditions for U.S. employers.
One in three Americans have high blood pressure. Hypertension is the most common primary diagnosis in the United States and is responsible for 35 million office visits each year.
- Lower levels of testosterone in men are associated with higher blood pressure, left ventricular mass, and left ventricular hypertrophy.
- Low testosterone concentrations are predictive of hypertension, suggesting testosterone as a potential bio-marker of increased cardiovascular risk.
- Being overweight or obese predisposes people to hypertension. However difficult to achieve, weight loss must be the first line of therapy.
- Excess weight accounts for as much as 65-75% of the risk for essential hypertension and also greatly increases the risk for end stage renal disease
- With prolonged obesity, there may be a gradual loss of kidney function that worsens with time, exacerbates hypertension, and makes blood pressure more difficult to control.
- Lifestyle modifications, including weight reduction and increased physical activity, are essential first steps in the management of obesity hypertension and renal disease.
- Most patients with hypertension are overweight or obese, and loss of excess weight lowers blood pressure.
- Hypertension puts a heavy economic burden on society through large medical care expenditures and productivity losses resulting from disability and premature death.
Modifiable health risks are associated with higher employer costs. Health risks with the greatest impact on total medical care costs included obesity, high blood pressure, high blood glucose, high triglycerides, and inadequate exercise.
Programs that address these risks are expected to yield substantial savings.
The estimated direct and indirect cost of High Blood Pressure for 2010 is $76.6 billion.
http://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/evaluation/topics/blood-pressure.html
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