Say Hello to the “Silent Killer”
Blood pressure, two numbers checked at every office visit, with greater clinical importance than patients understand.
High blood pressure. One of the most common disease states today, easily diagnosed and manageable, yet has the nickname the silent killer. Why? It can go undiagnosed and one may live with it for years without ever having an idea their blood pressure is high, hence the name silent killer. Untreated high blood pressure can lead to cardiovascular problems and stroke and although easily diagnosed and managed with daily medications, having high blood pressure doesn’t have clear cut symptoms.
In a recent study summarized in this article, they found that hypertension-related deaths have increased throughout the United States among all age groups and sexes to 23 per 100,000 people in 2017 from the previous 18.3 per 100,000 people in 2007. With over 9 drug classes to treat high blood pressure, there are endless options that can accommodate even the sickest patient. So what are we as healthcare workers doing wrong that this common and manageable disease is the silent killer? From the opinion of a soon-to-be community pharmacist, we aren’t discussing the “silent” part of high blood pressure enough.
What Can We Do to Avoid the Silent Killer?
Like many disease states and problems, preventative measures is the best way to keep worsening outcomes at bay. With hypertension, preventing patients from taking their treatment into their own hands and assuring lifestyle changes are being made is essential in treating the disease. Making sure your patients are on time filling their medications is one step to making sure they are adherent, but verifying they are taking it correctly and should not expect to feel any different while on it is just as important. As healthcare workers we should be telling our patients “if you didn’t have symptoms when your blood pressure was high before then you will not feel any different when your blood pressure is normal, but that doesn’t mean you should stop taking your medications”. This important counseling tool should be utilized not only at the pharmacist’s level but at the cardiologists and primary care physician’s level as well.
Hypertension is not solved by a tiny white ACE-Inhibitor and less salt, and it is not as clear cut as the easy diagnosis makes it seem. It can lead to complications, and when accompanied by other disease states it can be deadly. Patients should be aware of these risks without being scared or intimidated. With regular counseling and adherence follow-ups, we can manage the condition, improve a patient’s life with diet and exercise changes and extend their life expectancy. We should not be silent about the silent killer any longer. Informing patients that they will not see a change in how they feel as opposed to if they were using an inhaler for Asthma is crucial. By limiting our counseling on this subject we are gambling with the option that our patients will stop taking their medications because why waste time taking a pill if they don’t feel a difference.
Thanks for reading…let’s not stay silent about the risks of high blood pressure anymore.
Frances Nixon-Simon
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy PharmD Candidate
