Special Issue:
High Blood Pressure

Illustration by Meech Boakye

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Editor’s Letter
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Masthead
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Special Issue: Blood Pressure [MASTER]

What is Hypertension?

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, occurs when pressure in the arteries (blood vessels) is too high.

How to Advocate for Yourself at the Doctor

Speaking up for yourself in a doctor’s office can be difficult and scary. When you find out that you have high blood pressure, you might feel confused about how to proceed. There is a lot of information out there, so it’s important to know how to advocate for yourself, especially when given advice that requires you to change your routines.

Know Your Numbers

Knowing your blood pressure numbers and what they mean is empowering. Because many people do not experience symptoms, keeping track of your blood pressure numbers is a key preventative measure.

Womanly Chats with Sherita Hill Golden, M.D., M.H.S

Sherita Hill Golden, M.D., M.H.S is an esteemed doctor, scientist, and administrator at Johns Hopkins Medicine, dedicated to serving her community and addressing systemic racism in health care. Her contributions to the field of diabetes research and to inclusive hiring practices have made a lasting impact on her community.

Womanly Magazine is a health and arts publication providing accessible health information to women and non-binary people.

About Womanly

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Special Issue: Blood Pressure [MASTER]

A Conversation with M’Balu Bangura: Baltimore City’s Equity Specialist

Womanly chats with M’Balu Bangura - Baltimore City’s Equity Specialist. Her work ensures that the city develops equitable policies and programs that affect Baltimore City residents.

Hypertension and Pregnancy

High blood pressure can often be brought upon by pregnancy, resulting in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy that include gestational hypertension and preeclampsia.

Hypertension, Medication, and Polypharmacy

Managing hypertension looks different for everyone. While some are able to manage high blood pressure with lifestyle changes, many people require medication.

Modifiable Risk Factors

High blood pressure is something that you can have a certain amount of control over. Whether you have already been diagnosed with high blood pressure, or if you’re trying to lower your risk level, we’re here to share a variety of steps you can take towards finding a strategy that works best for you!

Print This! Blood Pressure Diary

Print this! medication log

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Special Issue: Blood Pressure [MASTER]

Crunching the Numbers: High Blood Pressure, Locally and Nationally

46% of U.S. adults have high blood pressure. About 1 in 3 U.S. adults with high blood pressure aren’t aware they have it and are not being treated.

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Grandma Marion's Arms

From the shape and aesthetic of our features and body parts to our eating habits, things run in the family and transfer from generation to generation.

Some nights she can’t sleep. Some days, she can’t dream. Why does she always have to be so strong? Why can’t she practice being… soft?

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Black Girls and Their Hearts Soldier On

Protecting my heart—both the organ and the symbol of my emotional and spiritual life—is difficult.

Questions to consider asking your health care provider.

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Featured

Blood Flower

Illustration by Karolin Schnoor

A complicated procedure; A simple decision

Poetry by Maya Lewis

Matters I Take to Heart

Mixed media by Flavia Zuñiga-West

We Haven’t Failed Because We Have High Blood Pressure

Oftentimes when I talk to my patients about their hypertension, I get the sense that they feel they’ve failed. They blame themselves by saying things like, “I should’ve eaten less salt,” or “I need to exercise more.” But hypertension isn’t a personal failure.

Portrait of Devan Southerland

Photography by Sydney Allen

Featured

Medical Mystery

Poetry by Maya Lewis

Noncompliance

Illustration by Katy Doughty

That Which Bursts Out

To be human is to experience this. To leave this skin soft as there is an overstay of a sharp beating. I have now been dealing with palpitations and an overwhelming feeling in Body for three months. Fluid circulating arteries. Swell. Gush. Spurt. Sometimes Body’s pressure reaches 150/105.