Have you ever noticed that you don't really appreciate something until you don't have it any more?

This year I will be turning 58. I'm not sure how this happened. My mind feels so much younger, but my body has begun to show the signs of wear and tear.

Actually, when I turned 40, the first stages were evident. I remember asking my chiropractor why my body fell apart when I turned 40. He told me that it was the result of all the things I had done up to that point like not taking care of myself properly with good nutrition and a healthy diet and not getting enough exercise, but it just seemed like it happened overnight.

I began to take a little better care of myself, doing some stretching exercises in the mornings and trying to get out walking and trying to watch what I ate, but the weight crept up and the exercise slowed down, and before I knew it I had another health problem - high blood pressure.

I didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to it, thought it was something that would go away on its own. I hate taking pills and didn't want to take them if I didn't have to. I tried to deny it. The doctor told me he was worried about it, but I thought it was really nothing, after all, I really didn't feel anything, I felt just fine, I couldn't be sick.

The doctor told me he wanted to see me every month and each time his nurse would shake her head when she took my blood pressure, but I was still sure I was ok. The Doctor said, "I want you to take this pill, your blood pressure is way too high and we need to get it down." (One of my readings was close to 200.) He put me on various types of medication, but they weren't bringing down my blood pressure significantly. I moved from Hypertension stage 3 (way over 180 systolic) down to Hypertension stage 2 (160-179), but just wasn't moving down from there. Then I had a scare - pressure in my chest and a trip to the hospital in an ambulance. High blood pressure is a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg or higher. Both numbers are important.

Time to wake up. To pay attention to what my body was telling me. To listen to my doctor. I went to the Internet and looked up high blood pressure in Google. Stage 3 Hypertension was very serious. Time for me to get serious about this. The doctor sent me for some stress tests and they detected something in my heart and sent me for more tests. The doctor reviewed the results and after trying a few different drugs found a combination that worked for me. My blood pressure dropped significantly to normal to high normal.

When I started doing some reading I found out that high blood pressure is a silent killer. Nearly 1 in 3 North American adults has high blood pressure. Once high blood pressure develops, it usually lasts a lifetime, however it can be treated and controlled. It doesn't give any significant warning signs. Some people may not find out they have it until they have trouble with their heart, brain or kidneys.

When high blood pressure is not found and treated it can cause:

** the heart to enlarge, leading to heart failure

** small bulges (aneurysms) to form in blood vessels

** kidney failure due to the narrowing of blood vessels in the kidney

** hardening of the arteries, especially those in the heart, brain, kidneys and legs, leading to heart attack, stroke

** blood vessels in the eyes to burst or bleed, which may cause vision changes and can result in blindness.

Recently I had a large "floater" in my left eye. Because of my high blood pressure, I contacted my eye doctor and had it checked out. He discovered that I had a tear in the retina. It was detaching. I could have become blind. He sent me to a surgeon who examined it and performed laser surgery the same day. My eye is fine now, but if I hadn't learned to pay attention to my health, it might not have been.

Unfortunately, far too many of us take our health for granted and don't get the required checkups. If you are one of these statistics, please contact your doctor and get your blood pressure checked. Take the time to pay attention to your blood pressure. Get your doctor to check it out. Check it out yourself at the drugstore, but do it. Watch your diet as being overweight can increase your chances of high blood pressure.

But don't just stop there. If you have a lump that you are worried about, find out for sure what it is instead of just worrying. Worry can't cure anything - it just creates more problems.

For more information on blood pressure check out this site

To your good health!!

Fran Watson, Consultant