According to an editorial in the Lancet journal, the risk of developing hypertension in developed countries like the U.K. is as high as 90 percent. The figure is worrying indeed. Are you aware that hypertension or high blood pressure is now diagnosed even among teenagers and children?
The editorial says:
Lifestyle factors, such as physical inactivity, a salt-rich diet with high processed and fatty foods, and alcohol and tobacco use, are at the heart of this increased disease burden, which is spreading at an alarming rate from developed countries to emerging economies such as India and China.
For those who are not aware, blood pressure is calculated by the volume of blood the heart pumps and the amount of resistance to this blood flow in your arteries. So, the thinner the artery, the more is the blood pressure.
Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and given as systolic and diastolic pressure. For example this is written as 143/92. The top number is the systolic pressure and it is the pressure created when your heart beats. If the number is consistently higher than 140, then it means that the person is suffering from hypertension.
The pressure is also considered to be high, even if the lower value, i.e. the diastolic pressure is always more than 90.
The bad news is that, hypertension is a silent killer. A person may or may not have any symptoms. Though, many a times patients suffering from high blood pressure have complained of nose bleeds, dull headaches, blurred vision, and tiredness.
Don’t panic, there is a silver lining. All you would need to do to rule out hypertension is to go to your health care professional and ask for your blood pressure to be measured.
It is great if the readings are normal, but, incase they are high, apart from taking medicines, you would need to make lifestyle and diet modifications so that you reduce your risk of heart failure, stokes, and renal failure.
via: dailymail
Image:1,2
