A friend died. I hesitated. He still had a young toddler. Previously there was no sign of illness. Suddenly collapsed, near-death then death. All this because of high blood pressure.

By: Mochamad Yusuf*

His name is Adam Susantyo (I disguise it, like it with Inul’s husband name?). Adam, we call this, I knew in college. He was an activist. Many of the ideals that want to build with the idealism of young spirit. If you hear his talk, we will be stunned. If not careful, we could even become loyal supporters. He.. he.. I am happy to see him. Always something new to talk about.

Once married to Eva Maria (I disguise too, so remember the case of Yahya Zaini, member of Parliament, huh?), He was already not as same idealism before. But the spirit of change is still burning. A brilliant career. There are a new car, Taruna, that accompany to look for earnings as a sales manager.

A month ago, I could hear her pain. I did have rarely seen him, especially since I got married. After I work, from my office I go to visit him in hospital. I saw him lying weak. Pathetic to see it. Many tubes and wires which are embedded in the body.

Eva said the sudden illness. After work, she complained of chest pains. That night he could not sleep, anxious. Then breathing difficulty, and even then only one breath. That same evening as Eva’s transfer to hospital. Shortly after Adam collapse. Until then he was still unconscious.

When he entered the hospital his blood pressure is high, around 200. Normal range is below 135. I asked Eva if she had previously had high blood pressure disease. “Do not know,” Eva replied, “Yes, he has no complaints, so we do not check it out”.

Three days later, I can hear sorrow. Adam died. Innalillahi. I was stunned to hear this news. So fast. He’s still young. Has 2 small children, was a toddler.

I break to the bookstore. I get a book of ‘Hypertension Care Yourself’. It turned out that high blood pressure is said to be ‘The Silent Disease’, silent disease. The disease is not preceded previous symptoms. Then suddenly attacked. When you are attacked, can sometimes heart failure. When severe, because the rupture of blood vessels in the brain could be a stroke. If you’ve reached this stage the risk is death.

Then how to know that the disease had high blood pressure or not? The only way is checking blood pressure routinely. Only that, the book said.

This disease is basically caused by lifestyle rather than a virus or bacteria. Modern lifestyle that looks cool, but actually wrong. What’s that?

[To be continued]

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Note:
This my writing has made presentation (powerpoint). This presentation is interesting with full sexy pictures. Suitable if you present it to a friend or colleague to break the ice or a pause before the presentation seriously. This presentation was awarded as the Featured Slideshow Slideshare.net. You can download download it here: http://www.slideshare.net/myusuf/the-silent-killer.

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*Mochamad Yusuf is an online analyst, public speaker, radio host, lecturer and IT practitioner at SAM Design. Actively writing and his books have been published, “99 Jurus Sukses Mengembangkan Bisnis Lewat Internet”. You can follow his activities on his website, or in his Facebook.