|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
High Blood Pressure is Latest Major Topic on NIH's
Senior Citizen Health Site
'The Silent Killer' is the 29th health topic
added to NIHSeniorHealth
 September
20, 2006- Information prepared specifically for senior citizens about
high blood pressure has been added to the National Institutes of
Health's special Website NIHSeniorHealth.com. High blood pressure is a
major health risk for older Americans. If it isnt treated, it can lead
to stroke, heart disease, kidney failure, and other serious health
problems.
It is often called "the silent killer," because the lack of
symptoms causes many people to not realize they have it.
Information about the prevention, detection, and
treatment of high blood pressure becomes the 29th major health topic
available on NIHSeniorHealth (www.NIHSeniorHealth.gov).
This Website, which was designed especially for older adults, is a joint
effort of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Library
of Medicine (NLM), which are part of the NIH.
High blood pressure is not a normal part of
aging, says Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., director of the National Heart,
Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which developed the content for the
high blood pressure topic on NIHSeniorHealth.
You can prevent high blood pressure by maintaining
a healthy weight; being physically active every day; eating more fruits,
vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy foods; cutting down on salt
and sodium; and drinking less alcohol. If you have high blood pressure,
you can lower it by making these lifestyle changes and, if needed, by
taking medicine.
The new high blood pressure topic on
NIHSeniorHealth, Nabel says, is an excellent resource for older adults.
One of the fastest growing age groups using the
Internet, older Americans increasingly turn to the Internet for health
information. A recent survey found that 66 percent of wired seniors
surf for health and medical information when they go online.
NIHSeniorHealth, which is based on the latest
research on cognition and aging, features short, easy-to-read segments
of information that can be accessed in a variety of formats, including
large-print type sizes, open-captioned videos and a new audio version.
Additional topics coming soon to the site include clinical trials,
nutrition and falls.
The site links to MedlinePlus, NLMs premier, more
detailed site for senior citizen health information.
Notes:
The NIA leads the federal effort supporting and
conducting research on aging and the health and well-being of older
people. The NLM, the world's largest library of the health sciences,
creates and sponsors Web-based health information resources for the
public and professionals. The NHLBI is the nations primary supporter of
research in diseases of the heart, blood vessels, lung, and blood and
sleep disorders. All three institutes are components of the NIH in
Bethesda, Md.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) The
Nation's Medical Research Agency includes 27 Institutes and Centers
and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic,
clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the
causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For
more information about NIH and its programs, visit
www.nih.gov.
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
