It's bad news, good news when it comes to one of the most common health problems in the United States.
A new study conducted by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute finds that more Americans than ever are battling high blood pressure. And the researchers concluded that it's closely linked to increasing numbers of people who can't seem to win their battle to lose weight.
The bit of good news in this report has to do with how patients are dealing with it.
The American Heart Association says more people are living with hypertension, as the condition is also called, than dying from it. The numbers show that half of all Americans have above normal blood pressure. But data from two research studies show that of those people almost three quarters knew it. And more than half of them were getting treated, while a third of them actually had the problem under control.
Still, doctors say this isn't news to cheer about. Prevention is what health care experts stress, especially since a third of Americans children are considered overweight or obese. That group of kids is all at far higher risk of a lifelong battle with hypertension.
