Like a time bomb ticking away, hypertension  builds quietly, gradually, placing unbearable strain on  the body until it explodes--in heart attack,  stroke, kidney failure, arterial disease, even death.  But the disease does not have to progress that  way. Here, in the third volume of the highly  acclaimed Preventive Medicine Program ,  Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper, one of the nations foremost  experts in the field of preventive medicine,  presents a medically sound, reassuringly simple program  that help you lower you blood pressure--and keep  it down, often without drugs. Overcoming  Hypertension gives  you: --The latest facts on how cholesterol, cigarette  smoking, obesity, and stress affect coronary risk  levels. --Your high blood pressure  risk profile, with newly devised charts for men  and women. --A complete fitness  program that lets you choose the sport that works for  you. Plus a unique illustrated guide to  aqua-aerobics. --Tips on talking to your  doctor that will help you become an active  participant in your own recovery. --A  guide to anti-hypertensive drugs--the most up-to-date  list of medications, their recommended daily  doses, and ways to minimize side  effects. --Three distinct dietary programs, complete with  menus, recipes, nutritional charts, healthy cooking  tips, and much more. --Take  charge of your health and well-being with   Overcoming  Hypertension . "Every hypertensive person would benefit from  having this book to refer to understanding their  problem and learning how to effectively deal with it.  Physicians would do well to recommend to their  hypertensive patients to facilitate their medical  management."--William B. Kannel, M.D., M.PH.,  professor of medicine and public health, Section of  Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Boston  University School of Medicine. Kenneth H. Cooper, MD, MPH, is recognized internationally as the “father of aerobics” and is the leading spokesman for the preventative medicine movement. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine and the Harvard University School of Public Health, he introduced the term  aerobics  to the world with his bestseller  Aerobics . Soon after publication of this major work, he founded the Cooper Clinic, the Cooper Aerobics Center, and the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas. During his career, Dr. Cooper has authored many books, which have sold more than 30 million copies, including  The Aerobics Program for Total Well-Being ,  Aerobics for Women  (with Mildred Cooper),  The Antioxidant Revolution ,  Preventing Osteoporosis ,  Overcoming Hypertension ,  Kid Fitness , and  Controlling Cholesterol . Introduction   The underlying theory in the practice of preventive medicine might be stated this way: “It is always cheaper and more effective to maintain good health than to regain health once it is lost.”   There is no area of medicine in which this statement applies more than in the management and treatment of high blood pressure, which is also known as hypertension. Like so many other medical problems, the onset of this disease is insidious and usually has no obvious symptoms. The first sign of trouble may be an incapacitating, or fatal, heart attack or stroke. So it’s not surprising that many studies have shown the benefits of early diagnosis and treatment of hypertension.   Twenty years ago, medical reports revealed that only 15 percent of Americans with hypertension had their condition effectively diagnosed and controlled. By 1989, however, that figure was estimated to be above 50 percent.   As a practicing physician, I have in excess of fifty medications that I can prescribe to treat hypertension, but many of them have troublesome side effects. Unfortunately, even practicing physicians are not always knowledgeable about these side effects, nor are they aware of the best drugs with which to treat hypertension. So, in an effort to spread important information on this disease as widely as possible, I have written this book for both the layperson and the practicing physician. Medical references and other source citations can be found in the “References” section in the back of the book and also, in a number of cases, in the text. Shortened forms of references in the text are available with longer citations in Dr. Norman Kaplan’s Clinical Hypertension (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, fourth edition, 1986).   It’s quite easy simply to prescribe a drug that will control or mask hypertension. Unfortunately, that’s the approach taken by many physicians, with the result that almost invariably, the patient builds up tolerance to the medication. When this happens, either the dose must be increased, the medication changed, or a combination of medications prescribed. A vicious, seemingly endless cycle may then arise, shifting the patient from medication, to tolerance, to more medication.   Because of such dangers, I strongly emphasize in this book the nonpharmacological a