Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, May 17: About half of the population in Jammu and Kashmir is hypertensive and most of them are unaware of it, revealed Dr Nisar ul Hassan on Wednesday.
Dr Nisar who is also president of Doctors Association of Kashmir said that almost every other person in J&K is hypertensive as per new guidelines.
The normal blood pressure level is considered to be less than 120/80 mmHg which earlier used to be 130/90 mmHg.
According to him, hypertension is one of the common diseases in J&K and there is a need to have separate hypertension clinics at tertiary care hospitals besides district hospitals.
He suggested patients with high blood pressure need to relax for a few minutes and it is not possible in general ward or OPD. So, separate hypertension clinics are needed, he added.
Dr Nisar said that it is a myth that everyone suffering from a headache is a hypertension patient.
“But truth is that hypertension is invariably a silent disease and population based screening is vital. There is a need to reach more and more people and screen them so that we can pick up patients early,” he added.
“There is a need for a population based on screening so as to get the exact number of people suffering from hypertension,” Dr Nisar said.
He said that people in Kashmir love to consume salt and take 2-3 times more salt and traditional Noon chai adds to the burden.
“There is a need to make people aware about the ill effects of taking more salt,” he added.
He suggested lifestyle modification including eating fruits and vegetables and reduction in salt intake in food and eating potassium rich foods.
Dr Nisar said that hypertension affects almost every organ of the body and leads to heart attack and strokes and the main reason behind it is the shift from home made too junk foods contacting more salt and fats.
“Paediatric hypertension is a reality and after three years of age every child must be screened and if ignored it may trigger complications in adults,” he said
At least 11 percent women and 10 percent men in Jammu and Kashmir are suffering from hypertension while more than half of the population in the UT are in pre hypertensive stage.
As per the details of NHFS-5, just 36 percent women and 31 percent men in Jammu and Kashmir have normal blood pressure.
As per the data, age has correlation with hypertension and with growing age you have more chances of having hypertension as just 3 percent people of 15-19 age are having hypertension which increases to over 4 percent in 20-24 age group, around 7 percent in 25-29 age group, 8.5 percent in 30-34 age group, 14 percent in 35-39 age group, 20 percent in 40-45 age group and 24 percent in 45-49 age group.
Similarly, around 60 percent of people in the 15-19 year age group have normal blood pressure which decreases to just 17 percent in the 45-49 year old age group. Besides that the percentage of people who are in pre-hypertensive stage also increases from around 40 percent in the 15-19 age group to around 62 percent in the 45-49 age group.
The prevalence of hypertension among people in urban areas is more as compared to people living in rural areas. About 10.3 percent women in Urban areas and 9.7 percent women in rural areas are having hypertension.
“Eleven percent of women aged 15-49 in Jammu & Kashmir have hypertension, including 7 percent with Stage 1 hypertension and 1 percent each with Stage 2 and less than 1 percent with Stage 3 hypertension,” the data reads.
“Hypertension also includes women with normal blood pressure (0.3%) who are taking medicine to lower their blood pressure. Thirty-six percent of women have normal blood pressure,” it added.
“The prevalence of hypertension among men age 15-49 is slightly lower than among women. Ten percent of men in Jammu & Kashmir have hypertension, including 8 percent with Stage 1 hypertension, 1 percent with Stage 2 hypertension, and 0.2 percent with Stage 3 hypertension,” the data said.
“Hypertension also includes men with normal blood pressure who are taking medicine to lower their blood pressure. Thirty-one percent of men have normal blood pressure. For both women and men, hypertension increases with age,” the data stated.
Blood pressure is the force exerted by circulating blood against the arterial walls. Hypertension or high blood pressure is a condition in which the blood vessels have persistently raised pressure. Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney diseases, and brain diseases, and it is a major cause of premature deaths worldwide. Some of the risk factors for developing hypertension are unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, alcohol and tobacco consumption, and excess body weight.
