Hypertension: History, impact, and interventions (webinar)

About the event

How and why do we measure blood pressure (BP)? Does it matter? How do we decide if BP is too high (a condition known as hypertension) and whether that is a result of aging, bad luck, or a disease? If it’s a disease, when and how should we treat it? How does hypertension interact with other diseases, and does race or ethnicity increase (or decrease) the risks of high BP?

This presentation will provide a brief history of our developing understanding of hypertension’s central role in cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and stroke. In particular, it will include a selective review of the research results which have driven diagnostic and treatment guidelines and public health policies over the past century.

The presenter, Dr. Umans, is Director of the Biomarker, Biochemistry and Biorepository Core and of the Field Studies Division at MedStar Health Research Institute Over the past 14 years, his primary research focus has been on the staggering disparities in cardiovascular disease and related disorders that affect American Indian and Alaska Native populations nationwide.

This free webinar is part of the Native-CHART Webinar Series. Native-CHART (Native-Controlling Hypertension And Risk Through Technology) aims to improve control of blood pressure and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease in American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders with diagnosed hypertension. The research center is housed within the Institute for Research and Education to Advance Community Health (IREACH) at WSU.