Health High blood pressure is now the biggest risk of death

Highest risk of death from high blood pressure in women
People who suffer from chronic high blood pressure risk their cardiovascular health. The "silent death" is not noticed by most of those affected - and that makes it so dangerous. The sequelae are heart attack and heart failure. Often high blood pressure then leads to death. Worldwide, millions of people suffer from hypertension.

More and more people worldwide have too high a blood pressure. Too high an upper blood pressure is the most important health risk for women today. In men, only smoking is responsible for more lost years of life. This emerges from the recent findings of the Global Burden of Disease study, which have now been published in the journal The Lancet. The German high pressure league e. V. DHL® - German Society for Hypertension and Prevention attributes the increase in high-pressure diseases, in addition to increasing age, to overweight and lack of exercise; both endanger the health of the population in Germany as well. Political action is also needed here.

High blood pressure is a high risk factor for complications. (Image: M.Dörr & M.Frommherz / fotolia.com)

The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study is the largest epidemiological study on the health status of the world's population. Seattle's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation regularly collects figures on the incidence of disease and its impact on quality of life, which are measured as DALY (disease-adjusted life years). A DALY is a measure of the sum of the years of life lost through premature death and the years of life lived with illness and / or disability.

Hypertension most important risk factor

The latest review has identified the impact of 84 risk factors on health. The researchers conclude that high blood pressure in 2016 was responsible for 124.1 million DALY men worldwide and 89.9 million DALY women. "In women, too high blood pressure was the most important health risk, in men it is only surpassed by tobacco smoking," explains DHL® CEO Professor. med. Bernhard Krämer, Director of the V. Medical Clinic of the UMM University Medicine Mannheim.

High blood pressure causes no discomfort in most people. "Loss of quality of life occurs because hypertension can unnoticeably damage organs such as the heart or kidney," explains Professor Dr. med. Peter Trenkwalder, Deputy DHL Chief Executive Officer and Chief Physician of the Medical Clinic at the Klinikum Starnberg. According to the results of the GBD, mainly ischemic heart disease, ie heart attacks, and strokes were responsible for the high DALY numbers. Professor Krämer emphasizes: "With timely blood pressure settings, around half of all strokes and heart attacks can be avoided."

Compared to a previous GBD study initiated by the World Health Organization in 1990, the impact of high blood pressure has increased. For the increase in high-pressure diseases, the investigation is mainly responsible for obesity. "An increase in body weight combined with a lack of exercise is the most important cause of high blood pressure in civilization," explains Professor Trenkwalder.

Exercise and weight loss help

Increased blood pressure can often be tackled non-medically through lifestyle changes - regular exercise, proper diet, normal weight, and abstinence from alcohol and nicotine. Nevertheless, if an accompanying drug therapy is necessary, today there is a wide selection of largely side effect-free medicines. These lead to satisfactory blood pressure levels in most patients. For Professor Krämer, the figures continue to document the continuing need for action, also for Germany. The GBD study should also sensitize the German population not to underestimate the risk.

In Germany, around 25 million Germans are still affected by high blood pressure. "Half of those affected in Germany now have a good blood pressure," says Professor Krämer. "The other half, however, still has too high blood pressure. In Germany, there are still many people who do not know that their blood pressure is too high, that can not be treated or that are not treated properly. Due to the demographic development, the absolute share of hypertensives will rise sharply in the next few years, despite a decline in the population. Professor Krämer emphasizes: "There are huge challenges waiting for our healthcare system."

Prevention must become more attractive for health insurance companies. "The high pressure league therefore demands to change the risk structure compensation to the extent that prevention is worthwhile for the health insurance companies. Because then they will try to intensify the early detection and prevention of high blood pressure - as the main cause of cardiovascular diseases. "

In addition, the German Hypertension League also demands to improve the individual treatment of difficult to adjust high blood pressure patients. The treatment processes should be more patient-oriented, not obsolete. "The patient must be in the focus again," says Professor Trenkwalder. Here it is important to prevent revolving door effects or over- and incorrect treatments. "This is only possible through a concerted cooperation across sector, specialist and health insurance boundaries."

Swell:
GBD 2016 Risk Factors Collaborators. Comparative, global, regional, and national comparative risk, environmental, occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990-2016: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet 2017; 390: 1345-422

Neuhauser, Hannelore et al. Hypertension in Germany. Data from seven population-based epidemiological studies (1994-2012). Deutsches Ärzteblatt International 2016; 113 (48): 809-15