KILGOROUND
MITCH LUCAS

I SPENT THE BETTER part of last week with severe, intense headaches and taking Advil and Tylenol like candy, until my wife finally convinced me to see our doctor toward week's end.

I had an idea what my problem was. When you're 5-11, you're not supposed to weigh - well, let's just say way north of 200.

Just as I figured, the doc diagnosed me as having high blood pressure, told me it was almost certainly causing the headaches, prescribed a medication and told me to lose weight. He told me to take this seriously, because of my age and my family history of heart problems (it's horrible).

I was down for most of the weekend with the headaches, and had to catch up on local sports today. If I seem to have been inattentive over the weekend, I apologize, and I hope to get back to my usual job of getting in local sports the best I can.

I bring all of this up because I was surprised by a couple of things I found out about blood pressure this weekend that I never really thought about.

• A reading of 140-over- 90 or more is considered "high."

• About one out of every three people in the U.S. has high blood pressure, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

• If it goes untreated for long, it can cause the heart to enlarge, aneurysms in blood vessels, kidney failure, believe it or not, and arteries to harden - that means a risk of a stroke or heart attack.

• If you're like me, and didn't really think much about blood pressure, here's how you define it, according to the USDH&HS: Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the walls of the arteries. Each time the heart beats (about 60- 70 times a minute at rest), it pumps blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is at its highest when the heart beats, pumping the blood. That's the upper number, or systolic, pressure. When the heart is at rest between beats, that's when your BP falls. That's the lower number, or diastolic, pressure. Basically, if you have high blood pressure, it means your heart is having to work harder, and that is not good.

• It's measured in millimeters of mercury. That magic number of 120-over-80 is considered normal.

At any rate, that's today's health lesson. The best way to avoid high blood pressure, my doctor told me, is to stay in shape the best you can and get exercise. Since I'd kind of like to stick around longer, I'm going to do my best.

+++ AROUND THE LOCAL sports scene tonight, we've got the girls soccer team here, hosting Chapel Hill at 5:30 p.m. (junior varsity, with varsity to follow), and the boys visiting Chapel Hill at the same times.

Kilgore High School's baseball and softball teams are playing at Whitehouse tonight. That's the District 12-4A opener for the baseball team (a 6 p.m. start) and the third game of the district schedule for the softball team (a 4:30 p.m. junior varsity start, varsity afterward).

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY locally to Marvin Hilhouse, Betty Clark, Kristina Kay Beauchamp, Kay Maxwell, Christine Stroup, Jennifer McCubbin, Erica Rosas, Clara Prestidge, Nelda Johnigan, Tomma Dempsey, Dorothy Mills, Kelly Sneed, Jeff Sullivan, Sr., Bette McKay, Lindsay Halbert, Bill Jones, Leon Johns, Shelly Martin, Mary Hendrix, Margie Hooper, Donna Wiggins

Also celebrating: former ABC News heavyweight Sam Donaldson (74), singer Bobby McFerrin (58, and still probably not worrying and being happy), Jimmy Fortune of the Statler Brothers (53), actress Alex Kingston of "ER"

45), singer Lisa Loeb (40), and actor/stuntman Johnny Knoxville (37).

+++ HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TODAY to Pat and Gene Whitworth