THE Heart and Stroke Foundation SA urges all South Africans to empower themselves by getting tested for hypertension, as Sunday, 17 May marks World Hypertension Day.
The purpose of World Hypertension Day is to promote public awareness of hypertension and to encourage citizens of all countries to prevent and control this modern epidemic.
Hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure or ‘high-high’, is the leading cause of heart attacks and strokes in this country.
An estimated 11 million South Africans live with hypertension, and what is even more shocking is that three out of four people do not even know they are hypertension sufferers.
In a South African population of 54 million, where 30 per cent are 15 years old and under, it means 30 per cent of the remainder have high blood pressure.
There are three important steps to beat hypertension: diagnosis, improving your lifestyle and starting treatment until you achieve hypertension control.
A recent review shows that South Africans fare dismally in all three of these steps. Not only are South Africans not aware of their own blood pressure, but most of those who are diagnosed are not on the appropriate treatment, and even less are controlling their blood pressure adequately.
Dr Mungal-Singh, CEO of the HSFSA, said sadly, according to a review of a number of studies in sub-Saharan Africa, only seven per cent of hypertensive patients had controlled blood pressure, which means that 93 per cent of sufferers are at risk of having a heart attack, stroke or developing severe heart disease.
“These findings indicate we have a ticking time-bomb on our hands. We need substantial efforts to achieve effective prevention and control of hypertension in our country.
“I do wish people would take it seriously because it is still a silent condition as they have not yet had a heart attack or suffered a stroke. There are a number of risk factors that you can change for the better. Firstly, eating too much salt can be very harmful.
“Being overweight or obese are other key factors driving the high rate of hypertension in South Africa. Inactivity, smoking and drinking too much alcohol further increases the risk of high blood pressure. The good news is that these risk factors are modifiable by simple dietary and lifestyle changes.”
People can get their blood pressure tested at their GP practice, community clinic, nearest pharmacy or venues in the community where the HSFSA offers free blood pressure testing.
On World Hypertension Day people are urged to get tested, get their family members tested, and also remind people around them to get tested.
