Hypertension remains a major force of producing morbidity and mortality in the United States even in the year 2005. Despite this fact, many Americans seem to have become complacent regarding hypertension and its complications. The good news is that we have made tremendous strides in medical science in the area of the treatment of hypertension. This would seem to be good reason for us to learn as much about this problem as possible and how it could impact our families and friends.
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Regular listeners to the On Call radio program are familiar with my going to Banda Aceh, Indonesia this past February to work on a disaster relief team from Mississippi. We are all aware of the horrible tragedy caused by the tsunami of December 26, 2004, but I thought I would share with you in this commentary my feelings after meditating and praying over this event since I returned February 18, 2005. I have shared many of my experiences from the trip both through the show we produced dealing with this issue and the Medical Minute I actually produced while in Banda Aceh. Now I want to share with you my most powerful feeling, it is that of being overwhelmed. I was not surprised by this feeling and in fact had spent much of my time prior to going in trying to prepare myself spiritually and emotionally realizing I would encounter this. What I found so surprising was the things, attitudes, and situations that caused me to feel overwhelmed. Permit me to share these issues with you and indulge me just a bit.
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