You could have high blood pressure and not know it, because for many people there are no obvious symptoms. This is why high blood pressure is often called the silent killer. The only way to tell if you have it is to have your blood pressure checked. Get a doctor or qualified health professional to check it for you regularly.

Most people don't realize that high blood pressure can kill them. They think it's just a warning sign of worse things to come. But every hour you live with uncontrolled high blood pressure, it damages your heart, your brain and your kidneys. This damage can mean for some people the first sign of high blood pressure is a heart attack or stroke.

One in six people in Ontario have high blood pressure, and that number goes up to one in four over the age of 45. Most at risk are :

• people with a family history of high blood pressure
• those who smoke or drink heavily
• those who have diabetes
• and those who are overweight, or inactive.

Even so, you can be very fit and healthy, and still have high blood pressure. It's so important to have your blood pressure checked regularly and to keep it under control.

Because high blood pressure causes permanent damage, you should do everything possible to avoid it. If you have it, you should do everything you can to keep it under control.

The fact is that you can live a longer, healthier life if you prevent high blood pressure, and you could reduce your risk of having a stroke by 40 per cent. The best way to prevent high blood pressure is to live a healthy lifestyle by :

• not smoking
• maintaining a healthy body weight
• staying active
• avoiding alcohol.

A healthy lifestyle is also a vital factor in controlling high blood pressure once you've been diagnosed with it. Medication (with a healthy lifestyle) can help to bring it under control, but only if you keep taking it as the doctor prescribes.

For more information about a wide variety of health topics, visit HealthyOntario.

TORONTO (July 2004) — The McGuinty government is providing northern and rural Ontarians with better access to doctors by committing $185,000 annually to a program that places medical residents in underserviced areas of the province, Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman announced.

"Many medical graduates never consider practising in small communities because they have no experience providing health care in such a setting," Smitherman said. "The Resident Placement Program exposes medical residents to small-town medicine and encourages them to practise in communities that need doctors. This program is an important part of our government's plan to improve access to doctors across the province."

The Professional Association of Internes and Residents of Ontario (PAIRO) has been running the program as a pilot over the last three years. The government funding of $185,000 each year will allow PAIRO to run the program on a permanent basis.

Through the Resident Placement Program, new doctors are introduced to underserviced communities, with the option of locating there to practise permanently.

"We are thrilled that the government has recognized what a great success the Resident Placement Program has been," said Dr. Danielle Martin, President of PAIRO. "It actively connects new doctors to communities in need and is part of the solution to addressing the challenges of doctor shortages in underserviced communities."

Since the program's inception in 2001, more than 200 residents have been placed in underserviced communities.

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