What is high blood pressure? How many people have high blood pressure? What things contribute to high blood pressure? What lifestyle changes can we make to treat or prevent high blood pressure? What is the benefit of aerobic exercise? What about strength training? What is the impact of stress on blood pressure? What is Afib? What is the impact of salt on blood pressure? What should we know about baby aspirin? 

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Dr. Robert Todd Hurst is a board-certified preventive cardiologist and founder of HealthspanMD. He spent 12 years as a Consultant in Cardiovascular Diseases at Mayo Clinic, where he was an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine & Founding Director of the Heart Health and Performance Program. 

He shares everything we need to know about blood pressure from how to treat and prevent high blood pressure, what lifestyle behaviors are contributing factors, the impact of salt, whether we should be taking baby aspirin, and more. 

“Blood pressure can have a devastating effect on our health when it’s not treated well.” 

“High blood pressure is the second biggest contributor to the number one cause of death and disability which is heart disease. It also is the primary contributor to stroke and the second strongest factor for kidney failure, as well as diabetes.” 

“We don’t need to spend another dime on research to understand how to best treat high blood pressure. And yet, this condition, which kind of flies under the radar from doctors and from patients, accounts for 1,100 deaths a day in the United States. 1,100 preventable deaths a day.” 

“People that are over the age of 74, 85% of them have high blood pressure.” 

“In my estimation, about 75% of blood pressure can be treated and even  mostly cured without medications.” 

“I’ve come to have an amazing amount of respect for how impactful stress is for a lot of people and for many it is the primary driver of their blood pressure, of their heart disease, of their weight issues. They can’t get where they need to go until they figure out how to manage stress better.” 

“Afib is an epidemic now in the country. It’s the number one heart rhythm problem cardiologists deal with. Any cardiologist that works in a hospital will tell you that they are overrun by people with Afib.” 

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