Anything you want to know
about hypertension? Ask!
By MARSHA SERLING
For the Emerald
Students are often confused
about the meaning and complica
tions of hypertension. The follow
ing questions and answers should
help clarify some of these
problems.
‘ What exactly is HYPERTEN
SION?"
Hypertension is high blood
pressure. More than 24 million
persons in the United States have
it, yet only 10 percent are treated
effectively. Only half the people
who have high blood pressure are
even aware they have it.
“I'm a fairly calm and easy
going person. Is it true, then, ril
never have to worry about high
blood pressure? After all, I’m not
very hyper’ and I’m not very
tense.’ ”
This is a common misconcep
tion. The truth is, hypertensive
people are not necessarily more
hyper or tense than people with
normal blood pressure. There are
no symptoms associated with
even moderate hypertension, until
complications arise.
What can I do to make sure my
blood pressure is normal?”
Get it checked regularly. This
can be done today and Thursday
morning at the Student Health
Center.
If you have been told in the past
you have high blood pressure, get
it taken again. Usually three read
ings are made before an accurate
evaluation can be determined. If
you haven’t had your blood pres
sure taken in the past year, it’s
important to do it now.
Is high blood pressure
dangerous?"
Yes, it might lead to a premature
heart attack, a stroke or a kidney
disease.
My doctor asked me if I was
nervous the last time he took
blood pressure. Can it go up just
because of that?”
Blood pressure can increase
with activity or emotional stress
and decrease with sleep, (unless
your dreams are like Alfred Hitch
cock movies); however, true
hypertension is sustained as op
posed to intermittent high blood
pressure. Remember, one
doesn't have to be a nervous or
hyper person to have hyperten
sion.
“What numbers designate high
blood pressure, and what, ex
actly, do these numbers mean?”
The higher the blood pressure,
the more dangerous it can be. The
World Health Organization de
fines hypertension as being above
140/95. Normal blood pressure is
around 120/80.
Blood pressure is determined
with a stethoscope and an instru
ment called a sphygmomanome
ter. A sphygmomanometer con
sists of an air bag, or cuff, and a
column of mercury marked off in
millimeters. The cuff is wrapped
around the upper arm and
pumped full of air by squeezing an
attached rubber bulb.
The inflated cuff compresses
the brachial artery in the arm,
stopping the blood from flowing
through it. Air pressure supports
the column of mercury; as air is
slowly let out of the cuff, the col
umn of mercury falls.
When the cuff is no longer tight
enough to prevent the passage of
blood through the artery, the ex
aminer will hear a thudding sound
with the stethoscope as blood flow
resumes. The height of the col
umn of mercury when the first
sound is heard is a reading of the
Senate looking into
insurance flim-flams
WASHINGTON (AP) — Agents
from one insurance company sold
a 76-year-old woman 13 different
life and health policies in a two
year period, a Senate committee
was told Tuesday by the woman s
son.
The premiums on the policies
totalled more than $9,000 a year
— 68 percent of her income, the
women's son said. The problem
was uncovered only when his
mother mentioned she was hav
ing financial trouble and had to
defer some purchases, he said.
“I have loved too much or lived
too long or trusted too much,”
Robert Lowry quoted his mother
as saying.
The case history of Lucille
Lowry, a resident of Otterbein
Home in Lebanon, Ohio, was one
of several such cases cited as the
Senate Special Committee on
Aging opened hearings on health
insurance supplements to Medi
care health coverage.
Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, said
he had received a letter from a
79-year-old farmer who told him
that a “fast talker" who “came to
help us process our papers told us
that Medicare was in bad shape
and that it would run out in 1979.”
The farmer agreed to purchase a
supplemental policy costing him
more than $700 a year. Having
second thoughts, he wrote Glenn
to find out if the salesman was
telling the truth about Medicare.
“This has got to be a real flim
flam — a real fraud situation,” said
Glenn. He added that he was re
ferring only to a few unscrupulous
agents and was not castigating
the entire insurance industry.
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pressure when the heart is con
tracting. This is called systolic
blood pressure.
The air is let out of the cuff until
the sounds can no longer be
heard. The pressure at this point is
diastolic blood pressure — the
pressure when the heart is re
laxed.
Blood pressure is expressed in
two numbers, for example,
120/80. The first and larger
number is the systolic blood pres
sure, and the second number is
the diastolic blood pressure.
This week is ‘‘National Blood
Pressure Week.” There will be a
free blood pressure clinic at the
Health Center from 8 to noon and
Thursday.
So the pressure is on — get
your pressure taken this week,
and perform another death
defying act.
LAITY & CLERGY
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
...urge the citizens of Eugene to support legislation which guarantees the constitutional rights
of all persons regardless of sexual orientation. The purpose and effect of the ordinance
passed by the Eugene City Council in October is neither to approve or condemn a particular
lifestyle. Its function is to protect homosexual citizens from discrimination in the areas of
housing, public accommodations, employment and contract compliance.
...Basic to both our religious heritage and our form of constitutional government is the clear
affirmation that all persons shall have their human and civil rights ensured. We believe that
this ordinance will protect homosexual persons from the consequences of uncontrolled
prejudice and discrimination.
Eaton H. Conant
James L. Koch
Nancy Mote Purkey
Craig Stein
William B. Boyd
Benton Johnson
Lawrence L. Gruman
Rev. Robert C. Swain
Albert J. Zarth
Lawrence L. Beard
George Beres
Sylvia Beres
James Watrud
Frank Phillips
Sue Miller
Lohring Miller
George Carroll
Dale K. Olson
Dina Wills
Deane Watkins
Bayard H. McConnaughey
Evelyn McConnaughey
Cart A. Menkens
Marianne Day Scott
Paulette Thompson
Lucy Skjelstad
Elsa Struble
Sandra Swain
Theodora N. Salmon
Ann DeWein
Bill DeWein
Dennis J. Phillips
Courtney Abbott
Carol Abbott
Edward Price
Florence Douglas
Diane K. Moore
Isabel I. Hill
Seth P Wheeler
Margaret Anderson
John E. Adams
W. Dean Kokjer
Boyd Lien
Charles O. Willming
Betty Luginbill
Loie Murphy
Roy R. Finch
John C. Huenink
Kathy S. Smith
Portia A Mather
Dennis Hellesvig
Nancy H Dudley
Mary Lou Pierce
Margaret L. McCoy
Barbara A. Kirk
Gary D. Kirk
James W. Waning
Margaret A. Waning
John Ewing
A.K. Hottle
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Willma D Hill
Barbara Hottle
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David P Prideaux
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Ruth Fothergill
Polly A. Moak, M.Div.
George & Cynthia Kokis
Roy R. Finch
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Leslie B. Gray
Olive Bowers
David Zupan
Bruce Bowers
Jacke Hauser
Jonathan Butt
Beth M. Carlson
Gary R. Brower
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Penny J. Brower
Harry M. Merry man
Sue B. Clark
Dr. & Mrs. Hugh Johnston
Rev. Dr. Norman Metzler
Scott Cressler
David Mathew
Michael M. Ball
Becky Kuiken
Don Anderson
Terry Hutchison
Rabbi Myron Kinberg
Thea Cahn
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Yitzchak Hankin
Robert Stein
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Spence Ralston
Marya Axner
Judith Hankin
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Barry Savage
Wm. Scott Meisner
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Lisa Friedman
Ron Friedland
Jack Maddex
Kathy Bollons
The Rev. Duane S. Alvord
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Alan A. Schut
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Toni Thompson
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George Jeddeloh
Rev. Wm. Kent Burtner, O P
Rev Donald R. Buxman
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Rosalie 2. Harris
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George Kahn
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Eileen Bates
Yona Ash
Marlon M. Barnes
George D. Parsons
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Ann Montague
Morris Hauge
Don Eliason
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Raymond Rideau
Fr, George Matanic, O.P.
Rev. John Waldron
Rev. James Dieringer
Judy Albrecht
Doug Barber
Laurel Paulson
Keith Humpherys
Stephen Wade
Dawn Arnone
Carol Baker
John E. Fortna
Sue Gordon
Tom Payzant
Glenn M. Gordon
Burton E. Sabol
Jane Huneke
Donna C. Wickman
Eric D. Landau
John R. Fry
Edwin L. Coleman Jr.
Charmaine J. Coleman
Jetta R. Siegel
VOTE NO ON 51
This ad paid for by the above named signatories, and sponsored by Eugene Citizens for
Human Rights, Phil George, Treasurer P O Box 402. Eugene. Oregon 97440