High blood pressure is a significant risk factor for stroke and heart disease and has likely increased among people during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Suzanne Henson, a dietitian at University Medical Center.
Henson said data from 2018-19 showed 68 million people nationwide with high blood pressure, or hypertension. She estimates that number is probably higher now, during COVID-19, when eating and exercise habits have changed, and stress has increased.
“What I’ve seen in the COVID era and what I’ve seen in my patient population has given me great concern. With COVID, the progression of high blood pressure will be much worse,” Henson said during a February presentation to The University of Alabama OLLI program as part of the Mini Medical School series hosted by UA’s College of Community Health Sciences, which operates UMC.
She has seen weight gain among her patients, and even has a patient as young as 8 years old on medication to control high blood pressure. “That’s a scary place to be,” she said.
In Alabama, 42.5% of adults in 2019 were diagnosed with high blood pressure, ranking the state third in the nation, behind West Virginia with 43.8% and Mississippi with 43.6%. “That’s almost half of our adult population,” Henson said about the Alabama statistic. “This is a concern.”
Henson said hypertension is challenging. Patients might not know they have high blood pressure because “you don’t feel it until it’s critical or almost fatal.” Some patients with high blood pressure often don’t adhere to medications and other guidelines to control the condition.
But hypertension is a modifiable risk factor, Henson said, adding that people should reduce their sodium intake, increase physical activity and decrease tobacco use, including e-cigarettes.
“Where sodium is in food is shocking – soups, sandwiches, Gatorade,” she said. A cup of soup at a restaurant could have as much as 1,000 milligrams of sodium, almost half of the maximum daily recommendation of 2,300 milligrams.
Henson said fried foods, fast foods, and processed foods have a lot of salt. “The tradeoff for convenience is sodium,” she said.
Henson outlined nonpharmacological approaches to lowering blood pressure: a healthy, low-sodium diet with a focus on plant-based foods, fatty fish and dairy products, which can off-set the effects of sodium; exercise, including working out at a gym, walking family pets and taking the stairs; a good night’s sleep; and stress management.