Controlling blood pressure is a big health investment with huge yields. Maintaining a normal blood pressure precludes a cascade of physiological problems, beginning with the cardiovascular system and, possibly, extending to the renal and pulmonary systems. The investment up front is to look after oneself; the yield is long-term health and well-being and, hopefully, a positive bank balance. Switching sides to view high blood pressure (hypertension) as a market, how attractive is the market and what does one need to “get in�
The organization's 1999 statistics indicate that uncontrolled blood pressure was the primary cause of death for 42,997 Americans and contributed to the deaths of about 227,000 others. More significantly, the Third National Health and Examination Survey indicates as many as 50 million Americans over the age of six are hypertensive. Per Advance Data 322, in 1999, some 32 million medical visits were made for the treatment of hypertension (www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/ docvisit.htm).