What’s all the hype about Hypertension?

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Hypertension is a medical condition in which your blood pressure (the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels) is consistently elevated.¹

Hypertension
is diagnosed when an adult (a person aged 18 years and above) is consistently measured to have a blood pressure of
≥140/≥90 mmHg^3,4

According to the 2019 Expanded National Nutrition Survey, about 17.5% of Filipinos aged 20 years and above have elevated blood pressure.⁵

Could you be one of those who have it?

Hypertensive diseases ranked 6th among the leading causes of deaths among Filipinos in 2019.⁶

You may be at risk for hypertension if you have the following risk factors⁷

• Old age
• African ancestry
• A family history of hypertension
• Obesity
• Not being physically active
• Tobacco use
• High-salt diet
• Low potassium diet
• Excessive alcohol intake
• Stress
• Chronic diseases (diabetes, kidney diseases)

The higher your blood pressure (BP) and the longer the time that it remains uncontrolled, the greater would be its damage.⁷ It must be prevented from getting worse or developing complications,⁸ and the best way to do this is by knowing your BP, making the necessary lifestyle changes, and following the treatment plan recommended by your physician.^1,8

References: 1. American Heart Association (AHA). What is high blood pressure? AHA resource page. Available at: https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/the-facts-about-high-blood-pressure/what-
ishighblood-pressure. Accessed 2 August 2021. 2. Mayet J, Hughes A. Heart 2003;89:1104–1109. 3. Williams B, et al. Eur Heart J 2018;39:3021–3104. 4. Unger T, et al. Hypertension 2020;75:1334–1357. 5. Food and Nutrition
Research Institute-Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST). Expanded National Nutrition Survey: 2019 Results. FNRI-DOST resource page. Available at: http://enutrition.fnri.dost.gov.ph/site/uploads/2019%20ENNS%20
Results%20Dissemination_ADULTS%20and%20ELDERLY.pdf. Accessed 2 August 2021. 6. Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Registered deaths in the Philippines, 2019. PSA resource page. Available at: https://psa.gov.ph/content/
registered-deaths-philippines-2019. Accessed 2 August 2021. 7. Mayo Clinic Staff. High blood pressure (hypertension). Mayo Clinic resource page. Available at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/ diseases-conditions/high-blood-
pressure/symptoms-causes/sync-20373410?p=1. Accessed 2 August 2021. 8. MedlinePlus. How to prevent high blood pressure. MedlinePlus resource page. Available at: https://medlineplus.gov/howtopreventhighbloodpressure.
html#. Accessed 2 August 2021.