Hypertension continues to Mask in Indian population

Kaniza Garari
IndiGlobal Media Network

One in five persons with hypertension in India seeks treatment in public sector and there is poor control of the disease due to lack of awareness and also inadequate treatment-seeking behaviour due to economic and regional differences.

These were the major findings in a multi-centric national survey done by Indian Council of Medical Research- National Centre for Diseases Informatics and Research, Bengaluru in an international journal – Journal of Human Hypertension.

The study titled Hypertension treatment cascades in India found that population-based screening and health system strengthening included involvement of private sector as a key intervention to improve the population-level control of hypertension.

This is because the burden on the public health sector is too high and there is a need for cost-effective and early screening programs by the private sector for early diagnosis of the disease.

Multiple surveys and research in different medical institutions across the country indicate that 25 to 35 percent of Indians are hypertensive and it is more so in urban India. But only 1/4^th of persons are aware of their hypertensive status.

Dr K Narsaraju, Consultant Cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals, Telangana explains that during Covid 19 and post-pandemic there is awareness in health-seeking behaviour and there are attempts being made in organized sector to randomly check blood pressure. For this reason, there has been an early detection noted in those who are health conscious. Lifestyle modifications, managing stress and diet changes are taken up to control blood pressure.

Post-pandemic there is also an increased incidence of sudden heart attacks which is due to clot formation of the blood and this is being seen in younger age groups who are not diagnosed.

The rising incidence of obesity in the younger population is also considered to be another reason for the early advent of cardiovascular problems.

Dr Sarath Reddy, Director of Clinical Services, Medicover Hospitals explains, “Seventy percent of the hypertensive patients are asymptomatic and many of them are not diagnosed for a long time. Regular checking at different times of the day is important as it indicates the underlying condition. With heart attacks noted in the younger population, it is becoming important to carry out more screening programs to identify them early.”

Benefits of monitoring Blood Pressure:

• Regular monitoring or rather measuring of blood pressures helps to avoid the emergency situation and seek medical care early.
• Helps to identify other medical underlying conditions in the body
• Keeping a regular record of the blood pressure helps to understand the triggers that lead to increase in the blood pressure. These can then be identified and controlled.
• Self-monitoring at home has become an easy option to understand the changes in blood pressure and also helped to control it. Pandemic has been an example of how it has helped in controlling and also aiding doctors to understand the situation and diagnose better.
• Hypertension is also one of the reasons for chronic kidney disease

Changing lifestyle, stress management and a healthy balanced diet are the key to good health and controlling the advent of diseases.