Stopping the Silent Killer Before it Strikes: Understanding Hypertension with Jeffrey Turner, MD

Have you ever been told you have high blood pressure? Were you surprised? Did you feel completely fine, and even doubt that the numbers were accurate? If so, you’re not alone. Most people have no idea that they’re hypertensive, because it can takes years if not decades for this disease to cause havoc in the body.   

Press play to discover:

• Why routine blood pressures are taken on the arm, and what new types of technology could soon replace the use of blood pressure cuffs
• Why patients are encouraged to monitor their blood pressure at home rather than in the doctor’s office
• How different blood pressure medications work, and whether they’re effective
• Why perfect blood pressure doesn’t necessarily mean that hypertension isn’t causing disease in the body  
• How and why high blood pressure can cause organ damage and atherosclerosis leading to increased risk of heart attack and stroke

The vast majority of people who have high blood pressure have what’s called ‘primary’ or ‘essential’ hypertension, which is multifactorial. It could be due to any combination of genetics, age, lifestyle, etc. But there is a second type of hypertension that is due to specific causes, such as hormone-producing tumors, kidney issues, and blood vessel problems.

It’s this second category of hypertension that requires the real detective work in trying to determine causation. And it’s these patients that associate professor, Jeffrey Turner, works within the hypertension clinic at Yale School of Medicine. His goal is to detect hypertension and treat it before it develops into dangerous, life-threatening, and potentially irreversible problems.  

Turner explains the basics of blood pressure, the role of inflammation in hypertension and other diseases, how to measure blood pressure in different areas of the body, what happens to blood vessels over time in a person who has hypertension, how people are commonly diagnosed with high blood pressure and why it’s considered the “silent killer,” and one of the biggest challenges to treating people who have hypertension, but who don’t feel unwell.

Tune in for the full conversation and learn more at https://www.ynhh.org/services/hypertension-program.aspx. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C