Information and opinions on health from jrussellx2 at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/54966/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/54966/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/54966/index http://www.healthcentral.com/high-blood-pressure/c/54966/20828/high Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:43:00 -0500 jrussellx2 A family friend recently died from a heart attack.  He hadn't seen a doctor in years, but had seen a physician for flu symptoms about 10 days before he died.  They took his blood pressure and told him the systolic was 280.  He did not remember the diastolic.  In restrospect, should a pressure that high have raised red flags for the physician?  Should my friend have been hospitalized or referred to a specialist for... http://www.healthcentral.com/high-blood-pressure/c/54966/20828/high