You are caring for a 59-year-old African American male who is a non-smoker and a non-drinker. The individual has a healthy weight for his height. On weekends, he coaches a youth baseball team in his community and enjoys eating hot dogs and nachos with the children after games. He has been monitoring his blood pressure at the community center and noted that the highest reading was 168/92 mm Hg. He is pleased with this number, as the results were “lower than previous readings.” However, his healthcare provider is still concerned. She informed him about the dietary choices he was making and reminded him to limit his sodium intake. She also renewed the individual’s prescription for a thiazide diuretic and added an ACE inhibitor to his treatment regime.
Please answer the following prompts in your analysis of the case:
1- Speculate how the individual’s ethnicity contributes to his hypertension. Discuss other determinants of health that contribute to the prevalence of hypertensive disease in this population.
2- Discuss the significance of an elevated systolic pressure, even in the absence of diastolic hypertension, detailing the pathophysiology behind elevation in blood pressure and the ultimate development of hypertension. 3- Identify if this individual is at risk for developing heart failure. If so, what type of heart failure would he be most at risk of developing? 4- Briefly discuss the mechanism of action of the two classes of drugs this individual was prescribed for the management of his hypertension.
