Sitting in a suite at the Brown Palace Hotel, 48-year-old Joe Montana looked fit and trim.
Aside from some gray hair and a few wrinkles, he looked very much like the quarterback who led the San Francisco 49ers to four Super Bowl titles.
You would never know that he suffers from high blood pressure.
And that’s exactly why Montana was in town Thursday, to spearhead the national “Take Action for Healthy BP” campaign, part of National High Blood Pressure Education Month.
“I was diagnosed with high blood pressure in 2002,” Montana said. “My wife, Jennifer, kept on me to get an annual checkup. I felt fine, but I found out I had severe hypertension.”
Montana is one of about 65 million Americans estimated to have the condition.
He also knows because of his family history of heart disease, it was critical to find a way to control his high blood pressure. Medication has his problem under control.
“Joe is the perfect spokesman for this,” said Dr. James M. Rippe, a Harvard-trained cardiologist and fitness expert. “People think of ‘Joe Cool’ and everything he did on the football field. If they realize that someone like Joe can have hypertension, then maybe they will get their own blood pressure checked.”
Rippe said that although high blood pressure can be successfully treated, nearly 70 percent of the people who have the condition do not have it under control. He said more than 50 percent of people who have high blood pressure don’t know it.
“This is an important message, and I hope I can help get it out there,” said Montana, who was visiting his 18th city this month.
For more information on the “Take Action for Healthy BP,” visit the website at www.healthybp.com or call toll-free at 866-556-3866.
