According to the American Heart Association, one in three adults in the United States has high blood pressure, the rate is higher in African Americans. People who suffer from high blood pressure are more likely to develop heart disease, kidney disease and renal failure. Sufferers are also at a greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

Known as the “silent killer,” high blood pressure, has no symptoms but is easy to diagnose by your doctor. While there are no symptoms, there are causes. See the list below to see if you fall in the high risk category and make sure to get your blood pressure checked regularly and consult a doctor if it is high. High blood pressure registers at 130/80 or higher.

Causes of high blood pressure:

Genetics – Family history plays a major roll in the likely hood of developing high blood pressure. Just as hair color, height and eye color runs in families so does high blood pressure. While you can’t control your heredity you can take steps to lead a healthy lifestyle that will cut down on your chances of developing hypertension.

Poor Diet – Salty and fatty foods, specifically those that contain high concentration of saturated fats are major contributors to hypertension.

Obesity – People who are overweight have a higher rate of high blood pressure.

Lack of physical activity – Excersize helps the heart in many ways and conversly an inactive lifestyle can lead to high blood pressure.

Age – As people get older their risk of developing hypertension increases.

Stress – People who reported high levels of stress were more likely to have high blood pressure.

Drinking too much alcohol – Anything more than 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink per day for women can lead to high blood pressure.

Smoking and second-hand smoke – Smoking temporarily increases blood pressure and can damage arteries. Even second-hand smoke increases the risk of heart disease and hypertension.

Take this quiz from the American Heart Association to see if you are at risk for high blood pressure.

Here are some helpful links to learn more about high blood pressure and how to prevent and treat it.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – About 1 of 3 adults in the US has high blood pressure, which increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, the first and third leading causes of death in the United States. Find ways to prevent high blood pressure at the CDC website.

American Heart Association – Whether diagnosed with high blood pressure and looking for ways to manage it or just learning about this symptomless condition that affects one in three adults in our country, this site will guide you step by step to a healthier you.

High Blood Pressure in African Americans brochure from the AHA – This brochure makes recommendations on how to control high blood pressure, and shares statistics specific to African Americans and heart disease.

Mayo Clinic – Mayo Clinic’s section on high blood pressure.

WebMD – WebMD takes a look at high blood pressure in African-Americans.

International Society on Hypertension in Blacks

Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc.

Patrick Osborne, a name which means, Noble Warrior of God, driven spiritually into athletic pursuits, Marcus became the British heavyweight TKD champion.  After he had achieved his athletic goals, he wanted to pursue his love for helping humanity with the same vigor. Marcus is inspired most by the quote, “Be the change in the world that you’d like to see. ” which brought him to his current goal of serving truth and helping people to discover their own path. Marcus likes to integrate the mind, body and spirit principal that the Greeks are so famous for, yet during his experience, he has learned to put spirit first, mind second and the body becomes a reflection of the first two components. Marcus makes a vow to only give himself Superfoods and he would call himself a living experiment.

I asked Marcus to submit a vlog that would reflect his “Testimony” for Elev8.com.  The thought provoking question that came forth for me after watching this – became the title of this post “What If Your Whole Life Is A Prayer”?

For more information on Marcus and his company check out  www.organiclifeandfitness.com

Let us know your thoughts and comments.

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OW: What sets this release apart from any of your previous releases?

FH: It’s the fact that it is something that is like one of my children. The “Life In the Word” project has been a long time coming. It’s me being a father and my child is doing well and just starting to learn. I take it seriously. Whether its in my home or my professional life.

OW: What is being father like in the real sense of the word?

FH: Its one of the greatest things you can do. We talk about everything. There is nothing we can talk about everything. My daughter is wonderful person.   She is smart and talented.  My daughter is a great person It is one of the greatest things in life. My children are great. My son is my dude.

OW: Why start a label now with all the economic down turns of running labels?

FH: I want to expand into the genres to bring something to the people.  I want this to branch out.  I want to be able to show that there are different good ways to explain and express things. For example my daughter is a singer but she doesn’t need to sing like Yolanda Adams. She has more to talk about than just one subject.  I want her to have a voice. I want to be able to offer that voice that choice. She may want to talk about the struggles that she is going through with a boyfriend. I want to be able to give a voice for that. Right now I am doing a Jazz album.  It’s an art form. You don’t have to put your music in box.  I want to be able to put out some urban sounding things so that there is an avenue. There will be a catalog that people can have of good music.

OW: What are you hoping people take away from this album?

FH: It’s really a method of praise. It’s a Daily Word Devotional that you can use every day. You can put this on and not think about. This  is more content driven. It’s a reminder that God is bigger than any problem.

OW: What do you say to those struggling and who are lost in the world?

FH: All of us feel pain from time to time, but at some point you have to look within and  find out what is important.  At some point you have to tell the truth to yourself.  When you go through the pain and deal with my stuff I at least know the truth and understand that I know where I am at. I know I have to get over there and deal with.

OW: What is the one thing that you hope this new venture builds and creates for  new artists?

FH: The music business is not the same. No one’s doing records or business the same with technology. I just want to give a chance to give voice to different genres. I hope that it creates something lasting ….that opens up doors…. that creates an opportunity that allows people to grow.  I hope it brings a chance to give people a way to bring creative ways to bring music.  I am willing to get out the boat and walk. If I sink I can say “hey God.. Over here I am sinking help me out.” I am willing to try to walk. That’s what it’s about. You have to trust in Him.

{For more from Oretha Winston follow her on Twitter}

Some inheritances are a curse. I don’t mean your grandmother’s cabinet of porcelain fawns, nor your uncle’s portfolio of watercolor still lifes, nor the 40 years of Model Railroader magazines stowed in the rafters of your dad’s garage. Worse than any of these is the hand-me-down that could be hiding in your genes. No one wants to wind up with the family’s hereditary disease.

Whether it’s diabetes, Alzheimer’s, or heart disease, having a family history of a hereditary disease can cast a shadow over your life. Some folks try to ignore it, others become obsessed with their family’s medical history and genetics. There’s always that uneasy feeling: Will it get me too?

“A history of hereditary disease can cause a lot of anxiety and worry,” says Adel Gilbert, MS, CGC, a genetic counselor at Johns Hopkins University. “It can really affect your quality of life, or even how you live your life.”

I’ve spent most of my life in this gloom. My father died at 43, unexpectedly, of a stroke. And his father died at 64 (heart attack), and his father at 57 (heart attack), and his father at 61 (stroke). So the average age of death for the past four patriarchs of my family is 56 — a lifespan that would be above average for a 19th century coal miner and superb for a Neanderthal. But it’s not so hot for a man of the 20th century, let alone the 21st.

I’d like to beat the odds. I’m 34 now. I’d like to forestall or avoid the cardiovascular disease that felled my forefathers. Not only would I like to surpass the current record of 64 years — I’d like to exceed that life span by decades.

But is that a foolish hope for a guy with my family history? Is an early expiration date already written indelibly in my genes? Are my chances of getting to 80 any better than a mayfly’s? Under the cover of medical journalism, I turned to genetic experts to find out.

Can Genetic Testing Trump Family History?

“I see lots of people who are convinced they’re genetically doomed,” says Carrie Zabel. She’s a genetic counselor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, whose job is to help people better understand their hereditary risks.

It’s no wonder people can feel so hopeless about their DNA. We view genes and genetic testing with superstitious awe. A news report about the discovery of a gene can sound as ominous as the prophecy of an ancient oracle. Genes seem to control everything — our intelligence, our risk for disease, whether we like anchovies. Each breakthrough in genetic medicine seems to erode a bit more of the tiny allotment of free will that we thought we had.

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As a single, busy woman living in New York City, sick wasn’t a part of my vocabulary when I entered the last year of my 20s. Nonetheless, it soon found its way into my life.

It began with a swollen toe joint, which I easily dismissed as a yoga injury. But when the swelling and pain persisted and began to spread to other parts of my body, I knew something was going wrong. After a series of visits with a primary care physician and a lot of blood work, the test results came back in the “strongly positive” category for rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune disease that causes severe pain and swelling in the joints, along with a host of other fun symptoms like unshakable fatigue and fevers. As a lifelong overachiever, it was the one test I hadn’t wanted to score highly on.

The next six months of my life were probably some of the darkest, most painful ones I have known. I was not prepared for the onslaught of doctor and physical therapy appointments that came my way, or at how quickly my physical condition deteriorated. It had never occurred to me that I might have trouble washing my hair and dressing myself at the age of 29. But most of all, I was unprepared for the emotional fallout of finding out I had something incurable at such a young age. I felt like my life had only just begun, and yet, it felt like it was suddenly going to end horribly wrong.

Many of the books and resources I found at the time did nothing to dissuade these feelings of isolation and doom. Words like disabled and disfigured screamed out from every page, along with statistics about my increased chances for cancer and heart disease.

To top it all off, the advice and case studies seemed to be geared toward women twice my age and assumed that I was married. Suggestions like “having your husband help you carry the groceries” didn’t do me a whole lot of good, given that I was single and living on my own. My independence had been a source of pride for me, but it suddenly felt more like a liability. How was I supposed to get through this all by myself? Though my family was a wonderful support system, they lived far away, and when you are used to doing everything on your own, it’s difficult and humbling to ask friends to help with things like cleaning your bathroom or getting dressed.

What’s more, there was scant advice on issues that pertained to being young and single—and sick—such as navigating the dating world with a chronic illness and thinking further down the line to having a baby one day. How was having rheumatoid arthritis going to impact all the future decisions of my life?

That’s when I decided that if I wanted my story to be out there, and more importantly, if I wanted to find other young women who were facing the same tough reality about their health, I would have to do it myself.

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VIA: REUTERS.COM

(Reuters Health) – People who get plenty of vitamin K from food may have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who get less of the vitamin, a new study suggests.

 
Researchers found that among more than 38,000 Dutch adults they followed for a decade, those who got the most vitamin K in their diets were about 20 percent less likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during the study period.

The findings appear to be the first to show a relationship between vitamin K and diabetes risk, and do not prove that the vitamin is the reason for the lower risk, write the researchers, led by Dr. Joline W.J. Beulens of the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands.

Instead, they add, the results should fuel further research into whether vitamin K does play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes.

It’s estimated that more than 23 million, or nearly 11 percent, of U.S. adults have type 2 diabetes. The most important risk factors for type 2 diabetes include older age, obesity, family history of diabetes and race — with black, Hispanic and Native Americans at higher risk than whites in the U.S. The extent to which specific nutrients in the diet might affect diabetes risk remains unclear.

Vitamin K exists in two natural forms: vitamin K1, or phylloquinone, found largely in green leafy vegetables, as well as some vegetable oils, such as canola and soybean oils; and vitamin K2, or menaquinone, which people get mainly through meat, cheese and eggs.

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VIA: WEBMD.COM

COPD presents 13 million Americans with new challenges and opportunities for better health.

 
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Quiz the average person on the street, and how many could tell you what it is? Would you know that it’s the 4th leading cause of death in the United States? Not likely. But that is one of COPD’s unfortunate claims to fame.

A serious and progressive lung disease diagnosed in more than 13 million Americans, COPD develops when lungs become damaged from smoking and sometimes from heavy exposure to pollution, chemicals, or dusts. Genes may also play a role in the development of the disease.

COPD causes airways to become partially blocked, making it very hard to breathe. You can’t reverse the damage it causes, and COPD has no cure. But you can do many things to slow its progression and live a longer, higher-quality life.

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Via: NIM.NIH.Gov
If you frequent your local grocer, you may have encountered this dilemma while in the produce section–whether or not to buy organic. New research has found that there is no strong evidence that organic products have nutritional health benefits.

The few studies that were conducted were short term and showed to have limitations. In the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Alan D. Dangour and his colleagues write, “A surprising and important finding of this review is the extremely limited nature of the evidence base on this subject, both in terms of the number and quality of studies.”

No information was gathered detailing the long term effects of eating organic foods and the impact on overall health and the environment. But those who buy organic products consume them for other reasons. Organic products are made without the use of conventional pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, antibiotics or hormones. All of which may indeed show to have long-term benefits.