“David Jesse can’t afford to get sick. As a truck driver who logs 10,000 to 12,000 miles a month on the road, he’s rarely home long enough to visit a doctor’s office. But if he isn’t healthy, he can’t drive, according to Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations — and if he doesn’t drive, he can’t earn a paycheck.
That’s why the 50-year-old got a scare in 2008, after a physical revealed he had high blood pressure. He had been getting headaches, but thought they were due to stress; he ignored them and continued to drive. But as his doctor discovered, the throbbing in Jesse’s head was a symptom of his vessels straining under the pressure from his surging blood flow, which exceeded the threshold of 160/100 mmHg that the DOT requires of all drivers.”
Article
Alice Park, Time, 16 August 2012
