hypertension rate doubled globally over past 30 years
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the number of adults living with hypertension has doubled worldwide over the past three decades, according to a new study that found more than 1.2 billion people now suffer from the effects of high blood pressure with nearly half unaware they even have a problem.
the research, published in the lancet, said the number of women with the condition aged 30 to 79 rose from an estimated 331 million in 1990 to 626 million in 2019. the number of same-aged men increased from 317 million to 652 million over the same period, with the rising rates largely located in low and middle income countries.
hypertension — or the long-term force of blood against artery walls — raises the risk of several serious conditions, including stroke, renal disease, ischaemic heart disease and other vascular diseases, despite being relatively easy and inexpensive to detect and treat. decreasing the prevalence of high blood pressure — which has direct links to 8.5 million deaths per year worldwide — can reduce the number of yearly strokes by 35 to 40 per cent; heart attacks by 20 to 25 per cent; and cut the rate of heart failure in half, according to the study.
the research, which analyzed data from 1,200 studies involving over 100 million people across 184 countries, found rates have dropped in high-income countries such canada, germany, spain, switzerland and the u.k. canada and peru were tied for the lowest proportion of individuals with high blood pressure, with just 1 in 4 affected. however, other countries have not fared as well.
“despite medical and pharmacological advances over decades, global progress in hypertension management has been slow and the vast majority of people with hypertension remain untreated, with large disadvantages in low- and middle-income countries,” said majid ezzati, senior author of the study from imperial college london, u.k. “our analysis has revealed good practice in diagnosing and treating hypertension not just in high-income countries but also in middle-income countries.
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“these successes show that preventing high blood pressure and improving its detection, treatment, and control are feasible across low- and middle-income settings if international donors and national governments commit to addressing this major cause of disease and death.”
the analysis, which researchers said covered 99 per cent of the world’s population, only relied on data from studies that directly measured the blood pressure of participants, as opposed to relying on self-reports. hypertension was characterized as systolic blood pressure levels of 140 mm hg or higher, diastolic levels of 90 mm hg or higher or the patients used medication to control the condition. modelling was used to estimate the prevalence of the condition by country, year and age.
in addition to the successes seen in canada and peru, the study found that taiwan, south korea, japan and some western european countries had the lowest rates of hypertension among women at less than 24 per cent. eritrea, bangladesh, ethiopia and the solomon islands had the lowest rates for men at less than 25 per cent. at the other end of the scale, more than 50 per cent of women in paraguay and tuvalu had high blood pressure, as did over half the men in argentina, paraguay, tajikistan and several countries in central and eastern europe.
improvements in the detection and control of hypertension in middle-income nations such as costa rica, kazakhstan, south africa and iran show expanding health care and reinforcing primary care can yield big benefits, researchers said.
“low detection and treatment rates that persist in the world’s poorest nations, coupled with the rising number of people who have hypertension, will shift an increasing share of the burden of vascular and kidney diseases to sub-saharan africa, oceania and south asia,” said leanne riley, a co-author of the study from who, switzerland. “improving the capacity of these countries to detect and treat hypertension as part of primary health care and universal health coverage must be accelerated.”
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for more information on hypertension, support or to connect with other patients, visit heart & stroke or the pulmonary hypertension association of canada.
dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca
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