Although high blood pressure may seem like nothing important especially since it has no symptoms, it can lead to a plethora of health problems- many of which are fatal.

-According to the American Heart Association, high blood pressure is the number one modifiable risk factor for stroke

-Beginning at 115/75 mmHg, the risk of cardiovascular disease doubles with every additional 20/10 mmHg.

-Heart disease is the number one killer among women in the U.S.

-Even if you have normal blood pressure when you are 55, you have a 90% lifetime risk for developing hypertension.

-It is estimated that 1 in every 3 American adults have high blood pressure.

-Twenty-one percent of people with hypertension are unaware they have it.

-Other health problems caused by high blood pressure include heart attack, vascular dementia, angina, heart failure, kidney failure, erectile dysfunction, peripheral arterial disease, aneurysm and it can even make blood vessels in the eyes burst and bleed.

-Approximately 70% of people with Vascular Dementia are also hypertensive.

For more information see the American Heart Association; The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure; CDC Facts and Statistics: High Blood Pressure Facts.