Emma Bougard, a retired FedEx customs specialist, knows firsthand why blood pressure is important. A year ago, she visited ShelbyCares on 3rd for the first time, and was shocked to learn she had high blood pressure.
“I could not believe it,” recalls Bougard, who felt perfectly healthy at the time. “It was a little scary.”
It is not unusual for high blood pressure, a serious health problem that increases the risk of heart disease, to go undetected. Once Bougard learned she had it, she was determined to bring her numbers down.
Since then, working with ShelbyCares health coaches, she has learned and practices healthy cooking, has begun walking 1 to 2 miles each weekday, lost weight, and most importantly, brought her blood pressure down to normal levels.
“It was lifestyle changing. ShelbyCares got me back out there on the walking paths,” she says. “Now I feel better, and I want to live better.”
Read more at our UTHSC news site.