Still and quiet killer hypertension

World Health Day for „silent killer“ high blood pressure

08/04/2013

As every year on April 7, the World Health Day, proclaimed by the World Health Organization (WHO), took place yesterday. This year was the motto „high blood pressure“, from many as „silent killer“ designated. If topics such as antibiotic resistance or infectious diseases had been discussed in recent years, then yesterday's motto was „high blood pressure“.

Doctors call him the „silent killer“
Goals that the agency sets itself with the day annually include improving awareness of the issue, as well as prevention and early detection. And exactly the latter is enormously important in high blood pressure (hypertension), because he usually acts quietly and in secret. If you feel weak in illnesses such as the flu and suffer from various pains, many people with high blood pressure feel very well. Few sufferers experience symptoms such as headache or throbbing temples, most of them notice nothing. This leads to a big problem: the fact that most of them do not notice the disease by themselves can have serious consequences. Possible consequences include heart failure or myocardial infarction, kidney failure, damage to the eyes and even blindness, as well as premature aging of the brain. In stroke, hypertension is even the most important risk factor.

The deadly quartet
In people with high blood pressure, other risks often include factors such as obesity, lipid metabolism disorders („high cholesterol levels“) and diabetes. This combination of risk factors will too „Metabolic syndrome“ called or as „deadly quartet“ designated. And the number of sufferers is rising and rising, according to the WHO, there are already a billion sufferers. In 1980, the figures were around 600 million.

Healthier way of life asked
Hypertension is often not an irreparable fate. On the one hand there are good treatment options in cases where it is necessary and on the other hand, a healthier lifestyle can often prevent high blood pressure. On the one hand, it would be important to find more peace and quiet, and on the other hand, nutrition plays an essential role. For example, the proportion of finished products, which are often high in salt, has been increasing in our diet. Study results, recently presented at an American Heart Congress, said that too much salt in food alone in 2010 caused about 2.3 million cardiovascular deaths. The German Press Agency reported that nearly 40 percent of those affected died below the age of 70 years.

„lifestyle diseases“ burden health systems
To eat too much and to move too little: typical causes, the result of which is the fatter. Overweight, as well as alcohol and smoking are common factors that lead to high blood pressure. Hypertension is considered so-called „disease of civilization“, which therefore depends on the prevailing living conditions. Such diseases play an enormous role in increasing health care costs and burden the systems with additional billions. Enlightenment and prevention are also becoming more important for economic reasons. The World Health Organization has set itself these goals, so as not to lead to a lack of information and ignorance about the global threat to health.

One sphygmomanometer per household
Since many sufferers of hypertension often know nothing about their disease, it is all the more important to wake both them and doctors with the help of World Health Day. But even when the disease is known it sometimes comes to no treatment or it does not show the desired effect. Basically, however, that the „silent killer“ First of all, it has to be recognized to treat it. It makes sense to have at least a sphygmomanometer in the home pharmacy in every household. Professional, of course, is the regular check up at the doctor. It does not take long, but ideally you can gain a longer lifetime by early treatment. (Ad)

Also read:
WHO: Warning of the silent killer hypertension
Hypertension: good treatment options
Lower high blood pressure without medication
Hypertensive agents increase the risk of cancer?
High blood pressure due to particulate matter in the city

Picture: Rainer Sturm