Presenter: Zara Martirosyan, MD., Assistant Professor, Howard University School of Medicine. Howard University Hospital Sleep Disorders Center. Just how does the number of hours of sleep that we get each night and the stress that we just “push through” impact our heart and brain health? Common sleep disorders like “insomnia, restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy and sleep apnea” can affect every aspect of your life including your safety, relationships, work performance, ability to think, our mental health, and contribute to the exacerbation of hypertension, diabetes, and overweight/obesity.

Chronic conditions are the leading cause of death and disability in the U.S. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), six in 10 adults in the U.S. have a chronic disease, and 4 in 10 adults have two or more chronic diseases. A chronic disease is a condition that does not go away without some type of intervention or medication and some even persist with treatment, such as HIV. The most common chronic diseases are heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. However, the good news is that advances in medication have allowed people to manage their chronic conditions and live longer.

Presenter: Ashely Gearhardt, Ph.D. University of Michigan, Department of Psychology Date: Thursday, October 13, 2022 The holidays are coming and along with the season comes stress eating, emotional eating, mindless eating of highly processed, salty, and sugary foods. Why do we do this every year? The stress and anxiety of the holidays can cause blood pressure spikes and other issues, which can be detrimental to your health. - Emotional eating. - Attraction to processed and ultra processed foods. - Addictions to foods - Food's impact on overall health and wellness Many of us have tried all kinds of diets. Keto, Atkins, Weight Watchers, South Beach, Paleo, The Zone..., with varying degrees of success, long or short term. Because weight loss can help reduce chronic blood pressure, it is important to find a lifestyle and relationship with food that allows for the best health outcomes.

Dr. Patricia Davidson led this Lunch & Learn session to explore the conditions that often accompany hypertension, like coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis, as well as provided an overview of the many classes of antihypertensive drugs often prescribed. She answered many of the questions during a Q&A session regarding medications prescribed for hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, and overweight/obesity, and more. Dr. Davidson is a medical Internist and Cardiologist, who has a private practice in Washington, DC. Her medical practice focuses on preventive cardiology, including weight reduction, smoking cessation, hypertension detection and control, cholesterol lowering and exercise. She encourages a positive change in lifestyle to embody health and longevity.

Institute for the Advancement of Women’s Health (IAWH) Grand Rounds in the Community: Self Measured Blood Pressure (SMBP) Monitoring Hypertension Control Program Keith C. Ferdinand, MD, FACC, FAHA, FASPC, FNLA Gerald S. Berenson Endowed Chair in Preventive Cardiology Professor of Medicine Tulane University School of Medicine New Orleans, LA

Yvonne Commodore - Mensah, PhD, MHS, RN Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Institute for the Advancement of Women’s Health (IAWH) Grand Rounds in the Community: Self Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring (SMBP)