THE incidence of high blood pressure is likely to rise by 60 per cent across the world in the next 20 years, US scientists say. High blood pressure has been identified as the most common contributor to early death among adults, increasing the risks of potentially fatal conditions such as cardiovascular and kidney disease. According to the research, based on data from 700,000 people over the past 30 years, almost one billion adults have hypertension.
The authors of the study say that the rise would be most marked in developing regions, at up to 80 per cent, while rates in developed countries would rise by 24 per cent. Jaing He, of Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Louisiana, said that cardiovascular disease had in the past century changed from a minor cause of death and disability to one of the main contributors to the global burden of disease. High blood pressure was “a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and kidney disease”.
Factors blamed for the rise in hypertension included poor diet, high alcohol consumption and rising obesity. Effective ways of tackling it included weight loss, reducing salt intake, moderating alcohol consumption, improving one’s diet and taking more exercise.
