More and more people around the world are living with high blood pressure, according to new research this week. The study, based on data from nearly 200 countries, estimates that more than a billion adults worldwide had hypertension in 2019, double what was estimated in 1990. In addition, more than half of these cases are not treated and few people maintain it. well controlled.
High blood pressure is usually defined as a constant systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Hg or higher (the highest number in a blood pressure reading) and a diastolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or higher (lower number). Although it usually does not cause any visible symptoms on its own, chronic hypertension can stress and damage the body, especially the cardiovascular system, over time; this increases the risk of other diseases such as heart attack, stroke and kidney disease. In the US alone, hypertension was dear contribute to nearly 500,000 deaths in 2018.
The new research, published Tuesday at Lancet, is the work of researchers from the NCD-RisC Collaboration (NCD-RisC), a network of scientists studying the prevalence of major contributors to noncommunicable diseases worldwide. The group works closely with the World Health Organization and is coordinated by researchers at Imperial College London. His study aims to provide the first estimates of hypertension and how it is diagnosed, treated and controlled in all countries.
The team reviewed 1,201 studies of more than 100 million people between the ages of 30 and 79, covering 30 years in 184 countries, studies that had a nationally representative sample of participants. It was defined that people had hypertension if they had a reading of 140/90 or more or if they were taking blood pressure medications. These data were then used to estimate hypertension rates in 200 countries and territories over these years.
All in all, they estimated that 1.27 billion people between the ages of 30 and 79 will adapt to the hypertension bill in 2019, up from 650 million in 1990. After adjusting for age (older people are more likely to have high blood pressure and people in general now live longer than three decades ago), however, the overall prevalence of hypertension did not change significantly during those years, and it is estimated that about a third of men and women already had it in 1990 and 2019.
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A high-sodium diet and lack of exercise can do just that to contribute to high blood pressure, while other conditions, such as diabetes, are risk factors. Aside from lifestyle changes, there are readily available medications that can help control it. But the authors estimate that more than half of all cases (720 million) are not currently treated, while only about 20% of people had well-controlled blood pressure. Poorly managed or untreated hypertension only further increases the risk of health problems.
There were some local successes, with countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Canada and Switzerland experiencing a sharp drop in their prevalence of hypertension since the 1990s. But many other countries got worse or stayed the same. In two countries, Paraguay and Tuvalu, more than 50% of women had hypertension in 2019, while more than 50% of men had hypertension in nine countries, including Argentina, Hungary and Paraguay. Just over a billion people with hypertension are believed to live in low- and middle-income countries.
The United States ranked 38th on the list of countries with the lowest prevalence of hypertension in 2019, with no significant changes in prevalence since 1990. In 2019, it was estimated that 29% of women and 34% of women men had hypertension. But he placed fourth in actually treating him, with 73% of people who receive some attention. In 2017, it should be noted, the new guidelines of leading organizations in the United States recommended that hypertension be defined as a minimum reading of 130/80 and not 140/90. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses these recommendations estimates that 45% of American adults over the age of 18 have hypertension.
“Despite medical and pharmacological advances over decades, global progress in managing hypertension has been slow and the vast majority of people with hypertension are not being treated, with major disadvantages in low- and middle-income countries,” he said. say lead author Majid Ezzati, a researcher at Imperial College London, in a statement released by the Lancet.
Because some countries have been able to improve their high blood pressure problem over the years, with some middle-income countries now improving than most richer countries, the authors hold out hope that much can be done. more to reduce their global threat. But many of the best ways to combat hypertension will depend on radical structural changes within these countries, as well as ample financial resources.
“Policies that allow people in poorer countries to access healthier foods, especially reducing salt intake and making fruits and vegetables more affordable and accessible, as well as improving detection by expanding universal health coverage and “Primary care, and ensuring uninterrupted access to effective medicines. Funded and implemented to curb the growing epidemic of high blood pressure in low- and middle-income countries,” Ezzati said.