Surprising Facts About High Blood Pressure and Stroke

high blood pressure

According to the American Heart Association, high blood pressure (also known as hypertension) is a condition that can be prevented, yet it affects 47 percent of all Americans. It also increases the risk of heart disease and strokes, both of which are leading causes of death in the country.

One of the reasons why people may not be taking steps to prevent it is because they simply don’t know that they have it, which is why it’s known as the “silent killer.” To help remedy this problem, May has been designated as National High Blood Pressure and Stroke Awareness Month.

Facts You Should Know About High Blood Pressure

The following are a few facts about hypertension that everyone should be aware of:

  • Only 24 percent of Americans with hypertension have it under control.
  • Hypertension was the primary cause or contributing factor of death in 2019 in the U.S., having been linked to 516,955 deaths.
  • Around 50 percent of men have hypertension, while 44 percent of women have it.
  • If left uncontrolled or undetected, hypertension can cause a number of other issues as well, including heart failure, angina, vision loss, kidney disease, kidney failure, peripheral artery disease, and sexual dysfunction.

How to Manage Your Hypertension

The following are a few ways to control your hypertension and reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease:

  • Maintain a healthy weight: Blood pressure tends to increase when your weight increases. If you’re overweight, losing a few pounds can make all the difference.
  • Exercise on a regular basis: Not only can exercise help you maintain a healthy weight, but it can also help to lower your blood pressure directly as well.
  • Eat healthily: Again, eating right can help you maintain a healthy weight, but cutting certain things out of your diet, such as foods high in cholesterol and saturated fats, can help lower your blood pressure.
  • Stop smoking: Smoking increases your blood pressure, so be sure to quit if you’re a smoker.

Get Your Blood Pressure Checked Today

To reduce your risk of stroke and heart disease, be sure to schedule a regular check-up with your primary doctor to check your blood pressure. If you have hypertension, you can begin taking steps to live a healthier lifestyle and reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease. For more health awareness information, keep visiting us at The Benefits Store.

Things to Do Before Your Next “Well Woman Visit”

The Basics: Overview

Schedule a well-woman visit with your doctor or nurse every year. The well-woman visit is an important way to help you stay healthy.

Well-woman visits include a full checkup, separate from any other visit for sickness or injury. These visits focus on preventive care for women, which may include:

  • Services, like vaccines (shots), that improve your health by preventing diseases and other health problems
  • Screening tests, which are medical tests to check for diseases early when they may be easier to treat
  • Education and counseling to help you make informed health decisions

Getting check-ups is one of many things you can do to help stay healthy and prevent disease and disability.

Before your next check-up, make sure you do these four things:

  1. Find out if you are due for general screenings or vaccinations.
  2. Write down a list of issues and questions to take with you.
  3. Review your family health history.
  4. Family Health History Checklist: Adults

Share family health history information with your doctor and other family members. Your family health history can give you an idea of your risk for chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes, but it is not the only factor to consider. If you are concerned about diseases that are common in your family, talk with your doctor at your next visit. A doctor can evaluate all of the factors that may affect your risk of some diseases, including family health history, and can recommend ways to reduce that risk.

Act on your family health history. Having a family health history of a disease does not mean that you or your family members will definitely get that disease. It is important that you talk with your doctor about steps that you can take to lower your chances of getting the disease.

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Tips if you have a food allergy

There is no way to prevent an allergic reaction other than avoiding the allergen.

Strict avoidance is the best way to prevent a reaction. This includes all products that definitely contain the allergen as well as those that “may contain,” “manufactured in a shared facility”, or “processed on the same equipment.” Experimenting or taking risks to determine if you can tolerate small exposures to the food allergen is dangerous and will likely result in an allergic reaction.

Read labels on packaged goods.

Since 2006, federal law mandates all packaged goods containing milk, egg, wheat, soy, fish, crustacean shellfish (but not mollusks), peanut, or tree nut be labeled in plain English declaring the presence of these allergens. However, when the allergens are not main ingredients but could be included in the packaged goods through cross-contact, a product may be voluntarily labeled as “may contain,” “manufactured in a shared facility”, or “processed on the same equipment.”

Discourage food sharing.

Unless you can verify that all the ingredients are safe, do not accept food from others. If your child has food allergies, ensure he or she follows this practice at school, on field trips, at sporting events, and at friends’ homes. Never assume the food being offered is safe or was safely prepared unless you can personally verify this.

Learn how to clean potentially cross-contaminated surfaces – including your hands!

Soap and water and commercial detergent wipes are your friends, but gel hand sanitizer is not. Do not use gel hand sanitizer to clean your hands after allergen contact.

For dishes, vigorous scrubbing with dish soap and water followed by cleaning in the dish washer is recommended. Allergic reactions can be triggered through ingestion of trace, residual amounts of protein on someone’s hands, which can also contaminate common surfaces. This is particularly important among small children who may frequently put their hands – and everything else – in their mouths.

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How to Prevent Sexual Assault

Prevent Sexual Assault

Sexual assault is something that happens a lot more than you might realize. According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network), an American is sexually assaulted every 68 seconds. Additionally, one out of every six women has been raped or almost raped in her lifetime. Because of how prominent the problem continues to be, April has been designated as Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Month.

Preventing Sexual Assault

Because most American children spend a substantial amount of time online, you should be wary about sexual predators attempting to groom or exploit them. The following are a few signs that may indicate that’s what’s happening:

  1. Someone online is telling the child to keep their relationship secret
  2. Someone is making sexually suggestive comments to them online
  3. Someone is asking about the child’s sexual background
  4. Someone is sending the child links to sexual content
  5. Someone is asking the child to contact them through specific apps
  6. Someone is instructing the child to talk to them in private
  7. An online stranger is sending the child gift

Make sure to tell your child to report any such exchanges to you, and be sure to monitor your child’s online activities in case such exchanges are occurring. You should report predatory behavior to California law enforcement right away to help prevent any potential sexual abuse from occurring.

Signs of Sexual Abuse

Many victims are under age. The majority of underage victims tend to be between the ages of 12 and 17. As such, it’s very important that if you have children, you make sure you do everything you can to ensure they grow up in a safe environment. The following are a few red flags to look out for that indicate that there may be sexual abuse happening:

  • The child’s behavior changes significantly. Behavior such as social withdrawal, loss of interest in activities, and difficulty concentrating may all indicate potential issues with abuse.
  • If the child complains about trouble sleeping, soreness, or even pain.

Sexual assault is a serious problem that affects both adults and children. If you have a child, be vigilant about their online activity to help protect them against sexual abuse. For more safety awareness advice, visit us at The Benefits Store today.

Disability Insurance Awareness

Millions of working Americans are facing a growing crisis: a lack of adequate disability insurance coverage. Today, the absence of emergency savings, rising medical costs, and an overall trend of fewer employers offering benefits to workers has created a critical blind spot for many American workers and their families. Without some kind of income protection, more Americans are experiencing severe financial difficulty if they need to miss work due to illness, injury, or pregnancy.

A lack of adequate disability coverage.

  • At least 51 million working adults in the United States are without disability insurance other than the basic coverage available through Social Security.
  • Only 40 percent of US households have enough in liquid savings to cover at least three months of their recurring expenses, and only 28 percent can cover at least six months.
  • Three out of ten American adults indicate they can’t pay an unexpected $400 bill without having to carry a balance on their credit card or borrow money from friends, family, or the bank.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that you need to plan for the unexpected. One thing people don’t expect is that they might become disabled and need disability insurance to protect their income.

That’s why during May, Disability Insurance Awareness Month, LIMRA is joining the industry to remind Americans about the importance of having disability insurance coverage to protect their income if they become disabled and are unable to work.

Below are some facts that highlight the importance of disability insurance coverage:

Despite the need, the percentage of Americans with disability insurance (DI) coverage declined from a high of 31% in 2012 to a low of 14% in 2021.

Data on consumer financial concerns suggest concern over a potential disability has grown among Millennials and Gen Xers. This is a positive trend because, according to the Social Security Administration, more than 1 in 4 of today’s 20-year-olds can expect to be out of work for at least a year because of a disabling condition before they reach the normal retirement age.

Disability insurance ranked high, with 46% saying LTD benefits were more important and 43% saying the same about STD benefits.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers’ compensation only covers time away from work if the disabling illness or injury was directly work-related. In 2019, less than 1% of American workers missed work because of an occupational illness or injury.

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Your Health and Safety Matters!

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