Eh, your experience will of course vary, but when it was determined that I had hypertension the first thing my (american) doctor told me is that I had to knock

Eh, your experience will of course vary, but when it was determined that I had hypertension the first thing my (american) doctor told me is that I had to knock off the activities that.. err... inspired my HN handle ;) I think doctors probably make a judgment call based off your described lifestyle and age. In my case diet and weight loss were easy, since I've been vegetarian at various points in the past and am fairly young.