High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is a health problem that affects many people in the United States and around the world.
It means the force of blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels is too strong. Over time, this can lead to serious problems like heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure.
Many people try to lower their blood pressure by taking medicine and exercising regularly. But for some, the numbers stay high even with treatment. This ongoing problem is called persistent hypertension.
Persistent hypertension is different from treatment-resistant hypertension. In treatment-resistant cases, people’s bodies don’t respond well to medication because of health issues.
But in persistent hypertension, the causes are often non-medical. These can include things like not getting the right diagnosis, not receiving the best treatment, missing doctor appointments, or having trouble paying for medications.
A group of researchers at Yale School of Medicine wanted to find out why so many people still have high blood pressure even after trying to treat it. They looked at patients in the Yale New Haven Health System who had five or more high blood pressure readings in a row between 2013 and 2018.
What they discovered was eye-opening. Many patients didn’t have high blood pressure because the medicine failed. Instead, they were not getting enough help. Some people had not been properly diagnosed.
Others were not given strong enough medicine. Many were missing appointments or couldn’t afford their medication. Some didn’t fully understand how or when to take their pills.
All these issues make it hard to keep blood pressure under control. The research team is now working on a new system to fix this. They are building something called a “taxonomy,” which is a way to group people by the specific challenges they face.
For example, someone who can’t afford their medicine could be connected with a social worker for help. Someone who often misses appointments could get reminders or help with transportation. If a patient needs stronger medicine, their doctor would be alerted.
The team wants to use smart technology like machine learning and natural language processing to do this quickly. These tools can look through patient records and figure out who needs what kind of help.
The plan is to build an electronic tool that works inside a hospital’s health record system. This would help doctors understand and solve each patient’s problems more effectively.
The team will first test this system with 40,000 employees and their families at the Yale New Haven Health System. This group includes people of different ages and backgrounds, so the researchers can see how well the tool works for everyone.
If this system is successful, it could be used in other hospitals too. It might also be adapted for other long-term health problems like diabetes. The main idea is to give patients the right kind of support based on what they really need, not just what looks good on paper.
Managing high blood pressure takes more than just medicine. It also means living a healthy lifestyle. Losing weight, eating more fruits and vegetables, and avoiding salty or sugary foods can help. Exercise is also important. Even walking every day can make a difference. People should limit alcohol, stop smoking, and find ways to relax and reduce stress.
In some cases, lifestyle changes are not enough, and people need medication. There are different types, and each works in a different way. Doctors can help find the right mix for each person.
It’s also worth knowing that some natural foods and products can affect blood pressure. For instance, eating too much black licorice can cause blood pressure to rise. Using marijuana may increase the risk of death in people with high blood pressure. But olive oil has been shown to help lower blood pressure in healthy people.
The Yale study gives us a new way to think about persistent high blood pressure. Instead of blaming patients or assuming the medicine isn’t working, it shows we need to understand the real-life problems people face. With the right support, many people can finally get their blood pressure under control and live healthier lives.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and natural coconut sugar could help reduce blood pressure and artery stiffness.
For more health information, please see recent studies about added sugar in your diet linked to higher blood pressure, and results showing vitamin D could improve blood pressure in people with diabetes.
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