Editor’s Note: Every week, Breaking Bronx features a health-related story, event or tidbit as part of an online expansion of our Be Healthy! column.

Why Manage Blood Pressure?
High blood pressure is the single most significant risk factor for heart disease. When your blood pressure stays within healthy ranges, you reduce the strain on your heart, arteries, and kidneys which keeps you healthier longer.

By keeping your blood pressure in the healthy range, you are: (1) Reducing your risk of overstretched or injured blood vessel walls; (2) Reducing your risk of blockages which also protects your heart and brain; (3) Protecting your entire body so that your tissue receives regular supplies of blood that is rich in the oxygen it needs.

What is the Cost of High Blood Pressure?
Uncontrolled high blood pressure can injure or kill you. It’s sometimes called “the silent killer” because it has no symptoms. Approximately 90% of all Americans will develop hypertension over their lifetime and one in three adults has high blood pressure, yet, many people don’t even know they have it. Uncontrolled high blood pressure kills people and wreaks havoc on many lives by causing heart disease and stroke.

What Can I Do to Reduce My Blood Pressure?
Whether your blood pressure is high or normal (normal is less than 120 mm Hg systolic AND less than 80 mm Hg diastolic or <120/80), the lifestyle modifications listed here provide a great heart-healthy living plan for all of us. In addition, these changes may reduce your blood pressure without the use of prescription medications: • eating a heart-healthy diet, which includes reducing sodium; • enjoying regular physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight; • managing stress; limiting alcohol; avoiding tobacco smoke. —Source: American Heart Association

Montefiore Wants You to Learn to Be Heart Healthy This Month
February is American Heart Month and Montefiore Medical Center has a whole month of events that will educate the community on how to prevent, diagnose, and treat heart disease. Montefiore hopes that these fun educational events will help get locals on a path to living healthier, longer lives. A Cardiac Wellness Program on Saturday Feb. 9 (call (718) 920-5197 for details) will highlight various heart-healthy diet options, while a CPR training class on Feb. 18 (call (718) 741-2357 for details) offers the opportunity to learn how to save a life. For more details and a full calendar of events, visit www.montefiore.org/heartmonth.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.