High blood pressure, or hypertension as the disease
is known medically, is our most common chronic illness.
Estimates of exactly how many Americans have
high blood pressure vary—the American Heart Association
and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute put the figure at about 55–60 million, but
some of the individuals included in this estimate may
only have had transient elevation of pressure; a more
accurate estimate is probably 35–40 million. In either
calculation, the number of people affected and the
amount of the nation’s health budget that goes
toward treating high blood pressure or its complications
are huge