Hypertension control calls for more public awareness
- By Chen Boyuan
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E-mail China.org.cn, August 4, 2015
A chronic medical issue worldwide, control of hypertension calls for better public awareness, particularly in detecting and screening the vascular condition in its initial stage, international medical experts say.
A large percentage of people fail to treat hypertension seriously enough because it is not fatal in itself, and lack of treatment does not usually lead to imminent grave consequences. At the same time, treating hypertension requires lifelong medication, which is not only expensive and troublesome but cannot cure the illness once for all.
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| Dr. Trefor Owen Morgan, a leading Australian medical expert and chairman of Asia-Pacific Society of Hypertension (APSH) at the International Society of Hypertention (ISH) / APSH Summer School in Asia and Australasia held in Beijing on Aug. 3-7, 2015. [Photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn] |
"The difficulty is in communicating to the population the real nature of hypertension. By itself it is not fatal; but the complications are," said Dr. Morgan. He urged sufferers to treat hypertension early so as to prevent "irreversible damage" to the brain, heart, lungs, and kidneys, etc.
Preventing complications, such as strokes, heart attacks and kidney failure – all far more expensive to treat - lies at the heart of preventing and controlling hypertension in the first place; although, even treatment can’t guarantee a patient's return to normal.
Hypertension is a major risk factor in strokes, both ischemic and hemorrhagic, and myocardial infarction (more commonly known as heart attack or heart failure), chronic kidney disease, peripheral vascular disease, cognitive decline and premature death.
Untreated hypertension is associated with a progressive rise in blood pressure, often culminating in a treatment resistant state due to associated vascular and renal damage, according to an ISH/APSH report.
Failure to treat hypertension in time, especially for patients in developing countries and those who are not well-off, is often related to the fact that hypertension has no marked symptoms.
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