It’s estimated that 30 percent of all Americans have hypertension, a.k.a. high blood pressure. Another, 30 percent are said to be well on their way (a condition called prehypertension) to developing what can lead to strokes, heart attacks and kidney disease.
There are many things you can do to manage and control your high blood pressure, and one important first step is making a DASH: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.
DASH-ing is pretty simple, really. It calls for:
- Eating more fruits and vegetables – four or five servings a day
- Consuming low-fat dairy foods
- Cutting back on foods high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and trans fats
- Eating more whole-grain foods,
- Including more fish and poultry in your meals and limiting red meats
- Snacking on nuts
- Limiting salt
- Reducing sweets sugary drinks
Heres’s what the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has to say about high blood pressure:
What is the effect on driver certification based on FMCSA hypertension stages?
A driver with a diagnosis of hypertension on treatment should have at least an annual certification.
A CMV driver with a Blood pressure (BP) 140/90 may be certified for 2 years.
First time BP elevated:
Stage 1 – BP 140-159/90-99 Certification Period 1 year
Stage 2 – BP 160-179/100-109 Certification Period 3 months as one time certification. Within the 3 months, if the blood pressure is below 140/90, the driver may receive 1 year certification.
Stage 3 – BP Reading >180/110 Disqualified. When the blood pressure is less than 140/90, the driver can be certified at 6 month intervals.
