32.6% urban people have hypertension: Study
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If you only associated the term ‘high BP’ with your overweight grandfather, or your twitchy, overworked boss, think again.
Doctors are even treating teenage hypertension, as the lethal combination of stressful living; obesity and erratic sleep cycles among youngsters today have made them vulnerable to hypertension.
According to the recent INDIAB study conducted by Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, the prevalence of hypertension in the urban population of Tamil Nadu is a high 32.6 per cent, and 23.8 per cent in rural TN, totaling into a staggering 1.2 crore people suffering from high BP in the state.
“The most common form, ‘essential hypertension’ occurs due to a hereditary factor, but it tends to manifest early these days due to lack of exercise and lifestyle diseases like diabetes and obesity.
Studies have shown that just 30 minutes of walking a day can help control blood pressure as exercise dilates the vessels and brings stress levels down,” says diabetologist Dr V Mohan. “Our diet is also a major culprit.
While the WHO recommends a salt intake of not higher than 5 to 6 grams per day, the average south Indian consumes at least 12 grams a day,” he adds, pointing out that all junk food is literally dipped in salt.
Hypertension can be a vicious cycle—it is the leading cause for kidney disease in India, but a kidney problem can also cause hypertension, says Dr S Saravanan, vascular and transplant surgeon at Madras Medical Mission here. “In India, around 150,000 people are diagnosed with kidney disease every year.
While some hypertensive patients could survive several years without their kidneys being affected, many of them develop kidney failure within a few years, and have to be put on dialysis,” he explains.
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