World Hypertension Day 2017: Know your risks and get screened for high blood pressure

New Delhi: Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is one of the most common lifestyle diseases prevalent today.

Hypertension - a long-term medical condition in which the force of the blood against the artery walls is too high - affects one in three Indian adults and kills an estimated 2.6 lakh people each year in the country.

Surprisingly, latest data reveals that the condition is also equally high amongst the medical fraternity with more than 50% doctors suffering from uncontrolled hypertension or high blood pressure (BP) despite taking hypertensive medicines, owing to high-stress levels.

Similarly, the number of patients between 20 and 30 years of age is growing, mainly due to unhealthy lifestyle.

It is a well-known fact that hypertension increases your risk for various health conditions such as strokes, heart disease, heart attacks, vascular dementia, and chronic kidney disease, etc.

Usually, hypertension is defined as blood pressure above 140/90, and is considered severe if the pressure is above 180/120.

You can have high blood pressure for years without any symptoms, thereby leading to complications resulted from narrowing of blood vessels. Anfd this is why hypertension is often referred to as 'the silent killer'.

Because people with hypertension have no signs or symptoms, getting your blood pressure screened regularly can help reduce your risk.

Few people with high blood pressure may experience headaches, shortness of breath or nosebleeds.

Fortunately, high blood pressure can be easily detected and it can be controlled with the help of your doctor.

It's not known what causes hypertension, but certain things are thought to increase your risk -

• Being overweight or obese
• Being physically inactive
• not getting enough sleep
• Drinking too much alcohol
• Smoking
• A salt-rich diet
• Age -Over the age of 65
• Race - African-American adults are at higher risk than white or Hispanic American adults
• Family history of the disease

Making healthy lifestyle changes can help reduce your chances of developing hypertension as well as help lower your blood pressure if it's already high.

Each year, May 17 is observed as World Hypertension Day (WHD) to create awareness about among the general public, to prevent and control this silent killer, the modern epidemic.