Over 60 million Americans have high blood pressure. That's one out of every three adults. High blood pressure or hypertension kills over 50,000 people each year and costs literally billions in medical expenses and lost productivity. A disease that is this wide spread normally gains an enormous amount of public attention, much like the H1N1 epidemic, but the only time you hear about high blood pressure on a regular basis is when yet another ad for blood pressure medication runs on the TV.

Why is that?

Many believe that it is because high blood pressure doesn't have any outward symptoms. Today a day doesn't go by without seeing someone sneeze into their elbow just like they were taught to prevent the spread of the flu. When you have that kind of public awareness, preventive methods are far easier to implement. But when you have a disease that doesn't make you feel sick then it's much easier to ignore. Of course when the stroke or heart attack or kidney failure takes place, suddenly hypertension is one of the most important part of your life.

Here's a shocking estimate from the American Heart Association. Of the 60 million people that they estimate have the disease, one third, or about 20 million, don't know it. They don't know it because they have not been in for a regular exam and had their pressure measured.

Of the remaining 40 million who know they have the condition, one third or 12 million people, do nothing to treat it.

Both of these groups are walking time bombs.

Are you one of these 32 million people? What approach are you taking to deal with your condition?

Approach Number 1: Do Nothing

Doing nothing is obviously the worse thing you can do. Basically you are gambling with your life. If you have a family, you're also gambling with theirs. What do they do if your gone, or maybe worse, completely disabled by stroke, blindness or kidney failure. What kind of burdens do you place on yourself and your family? You can make excuses and worry about it tomorrow, but what guarantee do you have that tomorrow isn't the day you're going to have the big one.

Take responsibility for your health. If you haven't had an exam, get one. If you know you have high blood pressure figure out how you are going to control it. As you'll see later in this article, you don't have to go for expensive drugs. There are no excuses.

Of the remaining 28 million people suffering from this condition, millions are on blood pressure medication prescribed by their doctors. If you have a medical problem you take a pill right? That's the American way.

There are basically two problems with this approach. First, if you do nothing to change the lifestyle that brought on this condition, simply taking a pill every day for the rest of your life is not going to guarantee that you won't fall victim to high blood pressure. If you come home from work and plop down on the couch in front of the TV, eat your fat saturated dinner and polish off a couple drinks, odds are HBP will trump your medication.

Approach Number 2: Blood Pressure Medication

Did you know that the medication could kill you? Blood pressure drugs come with a nasty set of side effects ranging from frequent urination to heart attack. Beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, diuretics and all the rest are basically masking your body's response to the disease not curing the condition. There is a whole separate industry that provides additives to the basic medication to make them work better. Don't be surprised when your daily pill becomes three or four pills a day.

Approach number 3: Lowering blood pressure natyrally without drugs

Did I mention that for 90% of the population this condition is entirely preventable? Same thing goes for reversing it. 90% of high blood pressure cases can be reversed and pressure brought back to normal.

Did you know you can do that without drugs?

The American Heart Association describes drugs as "being helpful in controlling pressure when diet and exercise have failed". In other words, medication is the fall back position not the primary defense against hypertension. Did your doctor tell you that?

Knowing what effect diet, exercise and stress management has on your blood pressure is essential if you hope to take back control of your body. There are specific foods to eat and avoid. Exercise has to become a daily part of your life. Stress management is exceptionally important.

It's actually pretty easy to reverse your pressure and the damage that has been done to your blood vessels. It's not hard core but it does take commitment. Doesn't this approach make more sense to you? Explore the alternatives. Your heart will thank you.