Football Fantasy and Health

The top number of your blood pressure reading it tied to stress.

Cassandra is age 32, divorced, and the mother of two boys, ages 9 and 6. She is tall, trim and attractive and working on her degree in physical education. She likes playing Fantasy Football and has high blood pressure from lifestyle stress. She knows a lot about football because she married and divorced a high scool star football player. Her physician has put her on a high blood pressure medication. She is afraid that she will have to take an expensive drug for a long time or figure out a way to lower her blood pressure with diet and exercise. 

She has determined that she can focus on reducing her lifestyle stress and moniter her diet. Neither will be easy. To help her stress she likes to go out with the girls for drinks which she accompanies with high salt snacks and bar food. She is now putting a major effort into reducing salt in her diet. Her lifestyle is another story. She has determined that arguments with her ex-husband cause her stress, and just thinking about talking with him, drives up her blood pressure. So she is focusing on ways to reduce her stress by recognizing the problem.  She read her copy of the “Guide to Contented Hearts:  Cardiac Risk Managment” and calculated a strategy to reduce her blood pressure. She is planning to work with her physician to lower her medication as she decreases her stress and salt intake. Cassandra is aware most women are not burdened by high blood pressure until age 60. So, at age 32, she is determined to control her destiny, now.