The silent killer “Hypertension”, a workshop on World Hypertension day at Faridabad

Sanjay Chaturvedi

17th May is recognised as “World Hypertension Day” and it’s a day set aside to increase awareness of a serial yet silent killer. A workshop on Hypertension was organised at Fortis Escort Hospital, Faridabad to spread awareness about the disease and the methods to be adopted for prevention.

The workshop was addressed by Dr. Sanjay Kumar, Principal Consultant and Head of Department Cardiology at Fortis Hospital Faridabad. While addressing the gathering Dr. Kumar said, “Hypertension is killing the young and old at an alarming rate yet in most instances people with high blood pressure may feel absolutely well”. “Statistics show that only 50% of those with hypertension are actually aware and that awareness in some areas may be as low as 10%.The bitter truth is some people do not have enough information about the condition, a significant number do not have easy access to measuring their blood pressure and a few stubborn ones think it’s better not to know if something is going wrong, added the doctor.

Discussing the impact of increased blood pressure, the doctor explained, “Essentially when your blood pressure is higher than it should normally be all organs in the body are exposed to elevated pressures since arteries supply blood to every part of the body. These sustained high pressures will be causing harm gradually every minute of the day. This may result in Heart Disease, Kidney Disease, Stroke, Eye Disease, Erectile Dysfunction etc. Apart from these diseases the increased blood pressure also results in Atherosclerosis, where fat or plaque is built up in the lumen of blood vessels and puts additional stress on the artery walls”.

Talking about the prevention to be taken Dr. Kumar said, “Prevention of high blood pressure is based mainly on adopting the appropriate lifestyle, while having regular medical check-ups to pick up conditions that can lead to hypertension if not tackled early”.

How much and what exercise should an individual adopt to prevent such health issues, asked one of the audience. “Exercise need not be rushing to the gym to sweat out only, but taking walks, gardening, cleaning your home, using the stairs and many others. Exercise increases heart functions and lowers blood pressure but there is a little hitch: the benefits of exercise on blood pressure do not last beyond 72 hours. Hence, exercise has to be done in routine.