Study finds hypertension cases on the rise

Health Watch

THE number of adults aged between 30 and 79 with hypertension has increased from 650 million to 1.28 billion in the past 30 years, according to a study.
The study was conducted by the Imperial College London and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
It found that nearly half these people did not know they had hypertension.
Hypertension increases the risk of heart, brain and kidney diseases and is one of the top causes of death and disease in the world.
It can be easily detected through measuring blood pressure at home, or in a health centre and can often be treated effectively with medications that are cheap.
The study, conducted by a global network of physicians and researchers covered the period from 1990 to 2019.
It used blood pressure measurement and treatment data from over 100 million people aged between 30 and 79 in 184 countries.
It covered 99 per cent of the global population, which makes it the most comprehensive review of global trends in hypertension.
The researchers found that there was little change in the overall rate of hypertension in the world from 1990 to 2019, but the burden had shifted from wealthy nations to low- and middle-income countries.
The rate of hypertension has decreased in wealthy countries – which now have some of the lowest rates – but has increased in many low- or middle-income countries.