Ask a doctor

Q. If I lose weight, how likely is it I can get off my blood pressure medicine?

A. Weight loss is a huge benefit to lower blood pressure as well as decrease cancer and heart disease risk. Unless you have a family history of high blood pressure, it is likely that eating a healthier diet and exercising by walking four miles a day will allow you to decrease use of hypertension medicines. Be sure to notify your doctor if you are starting an intense program so that he/she can monitor you blood pressure closely as you become healthier.

-- Nita Shumaker, pediatrician,

Galen Medical Group,

president-elect, Chattanooga-

Hamilton County Medical Society

Readers: To submit an obesity-related question for a medical doctor, e-mail it to Clint Cooper at ccooper@timesfreepress.com. See this space each week for answers, or go online to timesfreepress.com/news/shape.