High blood pressure affects more than 1.1 billion people worldwide -study
In 40 years, the number of people all over the world living with high blood pressure has almost doubled to 1.13 billion in 2015, according to the findings of a new study published in The Lancet, with the majority of them in low- and middle-income countries.
In the largest study of its kind analyzing blood pressure in every nation between 1975 and 2015, the scientists said that the number of people with high blood pressure has dropped sharply in wealthy countries – possibly due to healthier diets and lifestyles – but risen in poorer ones.
“High blood pressure is no longer related to affluence – as it was in 1975 – but is now a major health issue linked with poverty,” said Majid Ezzati, professor of global environmental health at Imperial College London in the UK, who led the analysis.
The rise in figures is especially significant in Africa and South Asia, which could be partly due to poor nutrition during childhood, the researchers said.
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, puts extra strain on the blood vessels and major organs such as the heart, brain and kidneys. It is the world’s top cause of cardiovascular disease, which leads to strokes and heart attacks, and is estimated to cause 7.5 million deaths a year worldwide (almost 13% of all deaths).
Led by researchers from the World Health Organization (WHO) working with hundreds of scientists internationally, this study covered blood pressure measurements from nearly 20 million people.
In Europe, Britain had the lowest proportion of people with high blood pressure in 2015. South Korea, the US, and Canada had the lowest hypertension rates in the world.
More than half the world’s adults with high blood pressure in 2015 lived in Asia, the study estimated. Some 226 million people in China have high blood pressure, it said, as do 200 million in India.
The study also found that in most countries, men tend to have higher blood pressures than women.
The top five countries for high blood pressure among men were all in Central and Eastern Europe: Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary and Slovenia. For women, the top five were all in Africa: Niger, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso and Somalia.
Ezzati adds that this is most likely down to differences between these populations in terms of healthy food options but also access to health services providing diagnosis and treatment.
High blood pressure is caused by a number of factors including having a diet high in salt and low in fruit and vegetables, and lack of exercise.
Ezzati believes strategies need to be set in place to tackle the problem, such as improving access to fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the year and channeling aid money to address better nutrition.
“The perception is that people are not getting enough calories, but the reality is, they’re not getting healthy calories,” said Ezzati. “Making fresh, healthy food affordable and accessible for everybody should be a priority.”
Ezzati also wants health systems to be better prepared to diagnose and treat raised blood pressure in the poorer regions of the world.
The team believes that the situation has become as extensive as it is today due to the failure of the global health community to prioritize the problem.
