What is hypertension? (aka high blood pressure)

Q:What is Hypertension?
A: Hypertension, often called high blood pressure, occure when blood moving through your arteries places too much force afainst the artery walls. Peopls are told they have high blood pressure if their blood pressure readings are repeatedly above normal for a long time. The measure of a high blood pressure reading is greater than or equal to 140/90.

Q: How does it occur?
A: in 90-95% of cases, the cause of high blood pressure is UNKNOWN

In 5-10%, high blood pressure is a symptom of some other health problem.

Some people are at greater risk than others for having high blood pressure. Risk factors include:
- pre-hypertension, or higher than normal blood pressure (120-139/ 80-89)
- family history of high blood pressure

- being overweight

- older adults

- too much alcohol intake

- African-American descent

- diabetes

- having had pre-eclampsia while pregnant

- in some women use of oral contraceptive or "the pill"

- some over the counter drug can increase blood pressure

Q: What are the symptoms?
A: High blood pressure most often has no symptoms; it is a "Silent" disease. It can go without being found untill it has caused some damage to the body. The following symptoms may be produced by extreme high blood pressure, but they also frequently occur for other reasons. These symptoms are:

- Feeling tired

- Blurred vision

- Feeling dizzy
- A nosebleed

- Morning headache at the back of the head

Q: How is it treated? 

A: Treatment for high blood pressure includes:

- taking your blood pressure at home: automated blood pressure monitors are now an option for home use. Keep track of your blood pressure at home helps your doctor to measure how severe your high blood pressure is and if treatment is working. Your doctor can teach you ow to measure your blood pressure at home

- Office visits are needed so that your doctor can measure your blood pressure, adjust your treatment as needed, and check for side effects fr your blood pressure pills

- the best blood pressure control: Although high blood pressure CANNOT be CURED, it can be CONTROLLED. High blood pressure that is not controlled can cause a heart attack, stork, heart failure and kidney failure. Other factors that may hasten problems incluse smoking, diabetes and high cholesterol. THe goals if treatment of high blood pressure are first to lower your blood pressure to a level as near as normal possible. Also to reduce the risk of getting other health problems, your doctor may suggest changing your lifestyle ad taking blood pressure pills.

Q: How can I take care of myself?

A: Some things you can do for yourself to improve your control of high blood pressure include:
- Lifestyle changes: Stop working, reduce sodium intake, Weight loss, Exercise, Reduce alcohol consumption.

- Medication: There are a wide variety of pills available to treat high blood pressure.

Some include:
- Diuretics (water pills): are often the first choice. They help the body to get rid of excess water and salt

- Beta Blockers: are pills that cause the heart to beat more slowly and relax the blood vessels.

- ACE Inhibitors, Calcium Channel Blockers, Angiotensin Receptors Blockers ad Alpha Blockers are pills that relaxes the blood vessels

Above info maintained by the UMHS Clinical Care Guidelines Committee, for Patient Education Handout.


After the preliminary checkup, my heart is as strong as a bull, lungs as healthy as a dolphin, liver and kidney fine too...only prob is the high blood pressure, so they have started me on some pills, cant rem the name cuz its too long. But is water pills as per above, to help remove excess water and salt..


So have to start on the pills and then go back for review in 3 weeks time...


Like Mr Ong say, its just high blood pressure... I'll be fine... =)

call fr Laura...

Laura, the lady fr hospital called earlier..
To be honest, I was quite nervous as I was not expecting her call till tmrw.. to inform me about my blood test results.. fr the 2 units of blood drawn yesterday for testing.. she called 1 day earlier and i tot something was wrong again.... but lucky no abnormalities were found.... muahahahaaa false alarm


Booked an appt to find out more about my blood pressure.. its next wed...

Woke up this morning all hyped up for the body checkup appt... sweet Mr Ong even made breakfast for me.. yummy.. its a FOC check up at the University of Michigan Hospital. this was necessary for one of the research that I volunteered in known as "Stress and Reproductive Hormones in Depression". The purpose of this study is to see if women with depression show low estrogen and abnormalities of other reproductive hormones and also to see if these abnormalities are linked to increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol. They required both healthy and in-depression volunteers, of cuz i signed up as a healthy volunteer.

For the check-up, blood was drawn for testing to make sure that i'm healthy and ready to go.. went thru some verbal questionnaire, family medical history and also a psychiatric evaluation... 

but i was not selected for the study...because my blood pressure is rather high for my age.. they took my blood pressure 5 different times during the 2 hrs i was there... according to them this cld be due to the fact that mummy have high blood pressure and it cld be hereditary or simply i was too nervous, which i highly doubted. Laura, the coordinator for the study, was a very sweet lady, she suggest that i get looked at by a doc... 

i'll go see a doc real soon to find out more about mine high blood pressure... see what can be done.. this ever happened in SG before... back then i tot it was due to work stress environment, but it looks otherwise...

Mr Ong came up with a theory, that the high blood could be due to my blood vein/vessels too small, so when the blood pumps X amt of blood thru the tiny veins, it cant flow as fast or something lidat.... i always have prob with my tiny veins when it comes to blood drawing and alway kena rejected by the medics for blood donation cuz the needle is thicker then my veins...

damn, i'm only like 25 lar... if its hereditary... wat next?? will that mean i have to be on medication for the rest of my fucking life?? thats not the way i imagine life wld be... my constitution has not been the best i know, if this is confirm, will having kids be more complicated?? ad if the kid is born, will they heredite it fr me?? Mr Ong say its okay not to have kids... but he love kids... and kids love him... lidat how to be a complete woman???

muahaha... of cuz these are some possibilities and tots... sometimes i just think too much.. it might just be like what Mr Ong say... nothing is confirm till the doc say so.. and even if its confirmed.... life still goes on.. cuz i'm Lindy Say and i Say nothing can bring me down... =)

bought 2 fabulous books fr Borders... all i need is now a hot cup of chocolate 

Read a book, instead of playing games on FB!!!

One should never stop reading, no matter how busy or little time u have....how old or how young... its never too late to start reading...

Especially in this i-cant-live-without-facebook era, its even more important to hold a book in my hand and read.. feeling the flipping of each page, the texture of the paper,  the dense-woody smell of the paper makes me feel more human and warmth or rather old-school, which i like...

I like the feeling immersed and getting lost in the story, imagine that you are the character or feel what the author is trying to get the character to feel....

Reading can sometimes help u find back things or feelings, motivation, inspiration, clears doubts, calm thoughts...

I like spending time seating in one corner of Borders and read a book away... its quiet and time just slips away... occasionally a cup of hot latte is a bonus... 

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf are 2 books i completed. Both difference stories but beautifully written and captivating...

The Time Traveler's Wife, as the title suggests, is written fr the perspective of the time traveler's wife whenever her husband vanishes... how lonely she gets when she wakes up alone in bed in the morning to find that her husband have vanish again to another time zone... how worried she feels not knowing how safe her husband was, how her heart aches when sometimes he re-appear back in bruises and blood. Yet, she never stopped loving him and remembering all the sweetest memories they share no matter how short it might seem... 

The movie is already out, but have not got a chance to see it.... will it be as nice as reading the book??? who knows till i read it.

The Weight of Silence is about the power of silence, secrets and family kinship. its about the emotions of a parent's worse nightmare for their child to go missing, haviny to be prepared for the worse but still remain hopeful and never give up...

Looking forward to the trip to the 2nd hand bookstore then Borders and the $2 latter Wednesday @ Espresso Royale tomorrow....

life as a house maker~~

muahahaha... life as a housemaker has been so far peaceful, rewarding, creative and fun.. though i would still miss waking up in the morning and getting ready to squeeze on the bus to work....

now, depending on Mr Ong's classes, i'll wake up make breakfast for him then head to the gym for some cardio... then head back home have a light breakfast, rest a bit then prepare lunch for Mr Ong....

on days that Mr Ong do not have any classes, we will head to the gym together for workout, then come home for a hearty brunch...

in btw the spare time would be either cleaning the house, look for new recepies, watch all the tv dramas...planning where to go during Mr Ong's break etc...

have recently join Knitting, quilting and cooking classes, which shld commence in Oct 09. All these classes are organised by a non-profit organization for women like me who came along with their hubby, cannnot work and have lots of time on hand... muahahha..

of cuz there is more things to do.... i'll be visiting the various museum ard the campus.. will post the pics up as soon as i get them...

hmmm sure am enjoying myself here...

damn what will happen when we go back?? will i be able to adjust to the hot and sunny weather in SG?? will i be able to find a gd job?? will the economy be gd when i go back??? muahahah well... all these will not be a prob till 2011 when we are back....

random thots

am reading "The Time Traveler's Wife" book. Coincidentally, the story is set in Chicago, the next place Mr Ong and myself will be visiting during his fall break in oct. here in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The writer is a local here.

Beautiful story and set me thinking, how we always take things for granted and only regret when we lose it... always crying over spilt milk....

Like how we take our parents for granted...
take our lifes for granted...

Hence, perhaps whenever u feel anger, breathe and stop for a few seconds and think it thru, you might just find out why it just happen...

facts abt living in US

after spending close to 4 weeks here in ann arbor, i've slowly gotten use to the pace and life here... so gladly im adjusting well.. alot of things i would like to share but dunno where to start... so i tink coming up with a list of 'facts' will more or less sum it up for me.. so here goes:



#1: the americans are super friendly and they are polite. They will say "How u doing" or even smile on u on the street, but that does not mean they want to be frens with you...

#2: The portions of their meal are super huge.. you cld order just one main entree and one appetizer and you can feed 2-3 ppl.. but because they survive mainly on tips, they prefer you to order one entree for each diner.. but the good thing is you can ask for take-away box that you can "tao bao" back...

#3: Salt and sugar is basically FREE. every dish they cook is alway too salty... even the frozen food or bacon hams are damn salty.. tats why always request for less/no salt or purchase food lablled 'low sodium'... gd thing is that you will always not have cramps...muahha

Sugar is also basically free.. for ppl like me with sweet tooth, it taste gd for the desserts, but it might just be too much sometimes...muahahah.. the diet pepsi taste just like the normal pepsi... imagine the original pepsi...


#4: Its left-hand drive here in US, hence cars are always coming fr the left side... 1st few days was really not use to it.. lucky have Mr Ong to hold on to me.. muahaha

#5: the interesting thing here is that for the car plate, you can choose to get the given combination by the authority.. or you can pay USD$35 annually and choose ur own.. and of cuz as and when u can choose to change it anytime.. wekly, monthly watever!!


one of SG undergrad's car plate is "KAYABUN" lar... so authentic...muahaha.. another one we saw on the road says "DURIAN". for sure we know that drive is fr SG.... muahaha



#6: Laundry machines only accepts quarters aka USD$0.25. Each time u wash and dry will cost abt USD$2.25 and the process is 1.5 hrs for washing and 1hr for drying… at least when collect ur clothes, they are warm and fluffy… muahahah

#7: The homeless here are also very friendly and polite. They look hygiene and they don’t look dirty. They also dress better with no torn clothings. They will greet you “how you doing today” before asking if u have any spare change for them. If u say no, they will not haunt you till u give them. they just thank you and even wish you a gd day then they walk away

#8: whenever u visit a supermart, always head to their customer service to check if they have any loyalty card/ program. Because if u have then the things u purchase will have huge discounts.


#9: US does not have that many public holidays. But when they do, usually it comes with mega discounts for shopping. The discounts they give is really huge and u can see and fee the impact, not like in SG, only they few miserable cents discounts. Hence I realise if u need to buy anything, wait till their public holiday. The next mega sale to look out for it “Black Friday”. It’s the next day after Thanksgiving. The discounts will be fr 25%-65% and sometimes even have additional discounts after the total cost.

#10: Different parts of US have different sales tax structure. For Michigan its 6%. The highest if I’m right would be California, which is abt 10%. And usually the price on the price tag are before tax.

#11: Squirrels, deers, goose, ducks are common animals u see running around and crossing roads too. U can also feed the squirrels and they usually come close to you when u have food in ur hand. There is also a university club that is call “feed the squirrels club” and yes they go around feeding the squirrels ard campus.

#12: when its ur bday, you can go ard the local shops to get FREE food and drinks. Stores like Ben & Jerrys etc. Basically u can eat for free the whole day if you want.

#13: Online shopping in the US is basically free ground shipping and takes usually 7-10 working days.

#14: As long as you have internet connection in US, you will be able to watch TV programs online by the 4 major TV station namely CSB. FOX, ABC & NCB. Series like Desperate Housewives, Survivor, Amzaing Race, CSIs, Criminal Minds, Big Brother etc… who needs a TV set when u can watch these on ur notebook or desktop. Of cuz can also watch BPL online!! Don’t try to watch in SG, it will never work!! Muahahhaa



#15: Weather in Ann Arbor is cool and dry, unlike SG is hot and humid. However when the sun shines on you to give you warmth, u will still get sunburnt. After 1 week here, I already have slippers tann lines lar… something that will not happen in SG. And yes, im still dark….

#16: They are a lot of events to welcome back the students for the fall semester. And usually these events have freebies, free food and drinks. Their goodies bag are also very interesting, they have tees, pens, pizzas, wraps, ice-cream, posters, snacks, sweets, chocolates, discount coupons and also free condoms!!! Muahahaha again with the free food and drinks, no need to cook at home!!

#17: Running is the cheapest sport here in Ann Arbor. All you need is a gd pair of running shoes and ur reliable ipod and off u go. The sceneries are also very pretty.


#18: Over here the buildings are not very tall unlike SG where by HDB now is at about 40 stories. I guess due to the abundance of land, you can have individual buildings for shops and houses. Imagine the shopping malls here only have 1-storey. Its just like taking Plaza Singapura combined with Suntec City Mall, but all flatten to 1 storey. This is how big the shopping malls here are.

#19: There are 1-dollar shops which is still much cheaper after conversion versus Daiso in SG lar… the things they offer are pretty good quality too. Household cleaning products are a good buy. Some snacks and candies are great find too…






#20: Courtyard/ garage sales are very common here. There are always posters ard the bus stops of bulletins boards on these events. Things that are sold at these sales are pretty much in good conditions.

#21: PPL here are very into recycling. Most of the places have 2 trash bins. One for recycled materials, and the other for general thrash. Even at home, we are encouraged by the community to separate our trashes. We now have a bin for papers and all our empty drink cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles etc are kept to e brought to the supermart to recycle and each of this item will be cash bk to you… it’s a gd way to save the environment and at the same time get a little cash bk.

#22: Whenever u feel homesick, the best way to curb besides calling bk via skype is to visit places that SG have.. places like IKEA, Starbucks etc. Of cuz visiting Chinese restaurants also helps!!

#23: When the weather is warm and sunny, grab a gd book and a cup of hot drink and u can sit the whole day outdoors..


#24: US BBQ basically consist of hotdogs and beef patties with the various condiments and potato chips.

#25: Beef is always cheaper vs. chicken, pork or fish. However, chicken thighs and drumsticks are cheaper then chicken breasts. Guess its more tedious to clean up and prepare the thighs???

#26: and if you have proper health insurance, the cost of giving birth here is basically FOC as its covered, even for complicartions during child birth!! how cool is that. No wonder so many couples had their babies here... Well that also means that withour health insurance here, medical expenses is very high. and the cost of Insurance can be high too..

There are actually a lot more things but I can recall all. But I will contto work on the list and expand it as much as I can…. Muahhahahaha