The American Heart Association and Mercy Health are helping Lorain County residents take ownership of their cardiovascular health through hypertension management.

To kick-off the four-month long program, Mercy Health Lorain provided blood pressure screenings Jan. 15 for the staff at Lorain County Community College, at 1005 N. Abbe Road in Elyria.

“We’ve partnered with the American Heart Association to help folks by recording and monitoring blood pressure,” said Beth Bremke, a registered nurse and on-site coordinator/educator Mercy Occupational Health. “We will be back over the course of the four months.”

The screenings were held in the second floor of the Spitzer Conference Center.

The program, Check. Change. Control., empowers participants to learn about, monitor and manage blood pressure through a combination of resources.

According to the American Heart Association, high blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major and modifiable risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

“Heart disease remains a leading cause of death in this country and the Check. Change. Control. program helps empower residents to take charge of their heart health,” said Edwin Oley, president of Mercy Health – Lorain. “Mercy Health is proud to be partnering with the American Heart Association to help build a healthier community one heart at a time.”

In a pilot program of Check. Change. Control., implemented by Mercy Health in Cincinnati at Fifth Third Bank, there were 874 participants in the program and 55 percent of them had a first reading fall into the “hypertension” category.

Since that initial reading, 48 percent of participants saw an improvement in either their systolic or diastolic reading, the release said.

The American Heart Association and Mercy Health are hoping to see the same positive results with LCCC employees.

“No single risk factor has more impact on the nation’s death rates from cardiovascular disease than blood pressure,” said Jennifer Labadie, interim executive director of the American Heart Association in Cleveland. “Here in the Lorain area, heart disease and stroke are claiming the lives of nearly 800 people every year.

“Controlling high blood pressure is a key component to improving cardiovascular health and adding quality, healthy years to people’s lives. We are grateful to both Mercy Health and AVI for showing their commitment to the health and well-being of the community with the launch of this program.”

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The American Heart Association has published new research warning that people who work overtime at the office are at greater risk of developing a deadly type of high blood pressure that doesn’t typically manifest in the doctor’s office. Referred to as masked or ‘hidden’ high blood pressure, the condition may remain untreated due to the difficulty in detecting it.

High blood pressure is a dangerous health condition that, if left untreated, may result in a number of other health problems, including everything from heart disease to vision problems, kidney disease, vascular damage, and more. In order to treat high blood pressure, also called hypertension, it must first be detected, of course.

According to a new study published by the American Heart Association, white-collar workers who worked 49 or more hours per week were 70-percent likely to suffer from masked high blood pressure compared to people who work fewer than 35 hours per week.

This hidden type of high blood pressure is hard to detect because it is elevated while the person is at work but tends to return to normal by the time the individual goes to the doctor’s office. If left untreated for a long period of time, the hypertension may cause other chronic health conditions.

As well, these overtime workers were also 66-percent more likely to suffer from sustained high blood pressure, which means the readings stay high even when the person isn’t working. This type of high blood pressure is arguably worse because it remains high all day and night, but it is easier to treat simply because it is easier for a doctor to detect it.

Overtime that involved fewer hours at 41 to 48 per week was associated with a 42-percent greater risk of developing sustained high blood pressure in office workers and a 54-percent greater chance of developing masked hypertension. This elevated risk persisted despite other risk factors for high blood pressure, including smoking, BMI, and more.

The study found a number of work factors that may influence one’s odds of developing masked or sustained high blood pressure, including having low authority in the work place, high demands from superiors, and potentially other daily realities that weren’t identified. The findings were based on a five-year study that took place in three ‘waves,’ according to the American Heart Association.

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