It's important once a person reaches their thirties to start paying particular attention to their cardiovascular health. One chronic condition that could require lifelong medications is affecting many Idahoans, and they are completely unaware they have it.

I have been dealing with bouts of elevated blood pressure since my mid-thirties. I'm 48 years old now, and I'm working on a plan to get off of hypertension medications before I'm fifty. I used to think it was the stresses of my job causing it, but now I believe I joined the nearly half of adults in the United States who have high blood pressure due to diet and other lifestyle choices.

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Blood pressure medications are the third most popularly prescribed medicines in the country, according to visualcapitalist.com.Only cholesterol meds and antibiotics are picked up more at U.S. pharmacies than drugs such as Lisinopril, which is used to manage high blood pressure. Hypertension is referred to as "the silent killer," because most adults over thirty years old don't know their blood pressure is high, and years of uncontrolled pressure in the blood vessels can lead to deadly consequences such as stroke and heart attack.

From what I've researched, a person with high blood pressure can still live a long life as long as they work closely with their doctor to manage it. I think it's very important to start measuring blood pressure once adults turn thirty. Texas, California, and New York lead the nation in money spent on prescription medications, according to definitivehc.com, and hypertension-fighting drugs are among the top three prescribed in these states.

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