Nearly one-third of Central New York residents, 31.4 percent, have high blood pressure, according to a new report from Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. Rochester–based Excellus, Central New York’s largest health insurer, released the report on July 11 in an attempt to inform health-care consumers about steps they can take to avoid or control high blood pressure, […]
Nearly one-third of Central New York residents, 31.4 percent, have high blood pressure, according to a new report from Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.
Rochester–based Excellus, Central New York’s largest health insurer, released the report on July 11 in an attempt to inform health-care consumers about steps they can take to avoid or control high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. Consumers who do so could avoid more serious medical problems like heart disease and kidney disease in the future, according to Dr. Arthur Vercillo, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield regional president.
Lowering hypertension rates could limit health-care costs, Vercillo says. In turn, that could relieve some of the pressure driving up insurance rates for individuals and businesses.
“I can’t give you an exact dollar amount,” Vercillo says. “Don’t forget that hypertension is interrelated and hard to separate from stroke and heart attacks and dialysis, among other things. I can tell you it is huge.”
Hypertension is when systolic pressure — the “top” number measuring force against artery walls as the heart contracts — is measured at 140 mm Hg or higher. It is when diastolic blood pressure — the “bottom” number measuring force against the arteries when the heart relaxes between beats — reads 90 mm Hg or higher.
The data in Excellus’ report also shows the importance of health-care providers inspiring healthy behaviors in their patients, Vercillo adds. The insurer hopes the report will encourage physicians to keep taking steps in their private practices to fight high blood pressure, he says.
“If there is no other message in this, it is that the patient-physician relationship is critical, and the patients need to follow their doctors’ advice,” Vercillo says. “And this is a way to reinforce that and work collaboratively with the physician community to help them get that message out there.”
For example, the Excellus report recommends participating in regular aerobic physical activity like brisk walking, dancing, or jogging to help counter hypertension. And of upstate residents who reported boosting their physical activity to try to control high blood pressure, 80.2 percent said they had received advice to do so from a health professional.
The report’s other recommendations for managing blood pressure included maintaining a healthy body weight, moderating alcohol consumption, not smoking, and using blood-pressure control medications as prescribed. It also recommended following a diet rich in potassium but low in sodium, fat, and sugar.
Blood-pressure rates in CNY
High blood-pressure prevalence in Central New York is in line with upstate New York’s average. In Central New York, 259,840 people have hypertension — 31.4 percent. The portion of residents across upstate New York with high blood pressure is also 31.4 percent, for a total of 1.2 million people.
The prevalence of hypertension is slightly lower in Excellus’ Utica/Rome/North Country region, as well as its Southern Tier region. In the Utica/Rome/North Country region, 28.6 percent of residents, or 169,780 people, are affected by hypertension. In the Southern Tier, 27.8 percent of residents, or 108,640 people, are affected.
Many Central New Yorkers are already taking some of the recommended steps to combat their hypertension, the report found. Among those diagnosed with high blood pressure, 69 percent reported reducing dietary salt, 65 percent alluded to making overall dietary changes, 71.8 percent said they increased physical activity, 38.2 percent indicated they abstained from alcohol, 47.2 percent avoided tobacco, and 82.8 percent took prescribed medications.
The Excellus report was the second in the insurer’s “TakeCharge Community Health Reports” series, which is designed to describe steps upstate New Yorkers can take to proactively manage health conditions. Excellus issued its first report in the series, which was on diabetes, in the fall of 2011.
“We want to be a resource,” Vercillo says. “And as part of that, we bring the public’s attention to things they are actually empowered to do.”
The report is based on a 2009 survey from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a random telephone survey of adults ages 18 and older. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compiles and reports data from the survey annually for each state and the nation.
Excellus has 700,000 members in Central New York, according to the 2012 Book of Lists.