The human heart is an amazing work of art. It is designed to receive oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and applies just the right amount of pressure to push it through the arteries and out to the body’s tissues.

When working correctly, there is just the right amount of pressure within the arteries to maintain a steady and even flow of blood. However, many things such as diet, stress, exercise, severe injury, or blood loss from menstruation can affect this pressure. Therefore, in order to keep this system operating at top efficiency, the heart makes continual and necessary adjustments throughout the day. These adjustments include the speeding up or slowing down of beats, and the increase and decrease of the strength of contractions. In addition, arteries relax and dilate or contract and constrict, and the kidneys retain salt and water (causing blood pressure to rise) or release salt and water (causing blood pressure to drop).

This system is so complex; it’s no surprise that fifty million Americans suffer from chronic high blood pressure or hypertension, and it is the most common of all diseases. To this day, it remains unclear as to why it affects African Americans more so than people of other ethnic backgrounds.