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HOUSTON (May 7, 2009)—A year’s worth of data compiled and analyzed by the Kelsey Research Foundation shows that 24 percent of people using Kelsey-Seybold Clinic’s downtown Wellness Stations have high blood pressure, and another 49 percent are at risk for developing this serious health condition.

Kelsey-Seybold installed the first health kiosk in the downtown tunnel system in 2007 in partnership with Waste Management, Inc. It has since established two more, working with the City of Houston and the Houston Chronicle. The Wellness Stations, manufactured by Lifeclinic, Inc., help downtown workers and residents keep their health on track. In just five minutes, users can check blood pressure, weight, body-mass index and other key health numbers. They can later share this information securely and confidentially with their physicians over the Internet.

Blood pressure readings are the kiosks’ most popular feature. Users checked their blood pressure more than 38,000 times between April 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009.

“These statistics clearly illustrate the heart-health challenges facing our city,” said Dr. Kenneth Kennedy, managing physician of Kelsey-Seybold Clinic’s Houston Center location. “However, they also show that the population of people using these downtown kiosks beat the national average in terms of blood pressure. The Wellness Stations are terrific tools in helping people gauge their own health.”

According to the American Heart Association, a third of American adults age 20 and older—or 73.6 million people—have high blood pressure. Hypertension kills more than 57,000 people in the United States each year, and its incidence increased by more than 25 percent between 1995 and 2005.

The Wellness Stations provide a convenient resource for people who incorporate lunchtime walks through the downtown tunnel system into their fitness routines, and for anyone who lives or works downtown.