World Health Day 2013
7th of April is commemorated as World Health Day across the globe. The theme for World Health Day 2013 is controlling high blood pressure. High blood pressure or hypertension is a condition which is very prevalent globally and it turns out to be a major public health concern.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than one in three adults worldwide have high blood pressure, with the proportion going up to one in two for people aged 50 and above. Complications of high blood pressure account for more than 9 million deaths worldwide every year. This includes 51% of deaths due to strokes and 45% of deaths due to coronary heart disease.
Hypertension does not show any specific signs and symptoms, many are not aware about the condition and often go undiagnosed. Therefore, they live with its possible complications such as heart attack, blindness, chronic kidney diseases and stroke. Hence it is a “silent killer” that can affect anyone. Lack of physical activity, diet high in salt and fats, family history of hypertension, being overweight, smoking, drinking and stressful lifestyle contribute to greater risk for developing hypertension.
However, hypertension is a preventable as well as treatable disease. The risk of developing high blood pressure can be minimized by: maintaining normal body weight, lowering intake of fats and salt, increasing intake of vegetables and fruits, getting regular exercise, avoiding tobacco and alcohol use.
According to the Health Information System (HIS) of Department of Health-CTA, there is a significant high burden of hypertension in the Tibetan community. Early detection of the disease helps in reducing the burden of increasing number of chronic hypertension cases in our community. I urge the community not to undermine the importance of going for regular health checkup so that diseases such as hypertension can be detected early and treated accordingly.
Dr. Tsering Wangchuk
Health Kalon
