What You Should Know About High Blood Pressure, The DOT Physical, And Your Health

Topic 18257 | Page 1

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The Highlight Reel's Comment
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Hypertension Explained Clearly by MedCram.com

Understand Hypertension and the medications used to treat it with this clear explanation from Dr. Seheult of http://www.medcram.com.

Getting your medical certification as a CDL holder requires keeping your blood pressure at or below 140/90, controlled with or without medication. Anything higher is considered hypertension, and will result in either a being issued a medical card with a shortened valid time frame, or in extreme cases, being denied a card altogether until it is brought under control.

The lifestyle of the truck driver requires sitting for long periods of time, and following haphazard schedules which sometimes don't allow for regular sustained exercise, leading to various health conditions common to drivers like obesity, heart disease, and, very frequently, high blood pressure, or hypertension.

Ways That High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) Can Harm Your Health:

  • Higher risk of stroke.
  • Heart disease.
  • Heart attack.
  • Vision loss.
  • Kidney disease.
  • Sexual dysfunction.

So we all know that it's a major concern and a prevalent problem. Now what can you do about it?

Outside of doctor-prescribed medication, there is plenty in the way of lifestyle changes that will help lower your BP, starting with regular exercise, quitting smoking, and eating or avoiding certain foods.

We have a ton of information on the DOT blood pressure requirements, and what you can do to help lower yours:

Other Resources:

American Heart Association: Health Threats From High Blood Pressure

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

  • Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
  • Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.

DOT:

Department Of Transportation

A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.

State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.

Hypertension:

Abnormally high blood pressure.

OWI:

Operating While Intoxicated
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