25% of Vietnamese adults have high blood pressure, which is one in four adults, but few people measure it regularly, according to statistics from the National Heart Institute (NHI).
“Patients who need to go to the ICU due to cardiovascular disease confess that they have never measured their blood pressure,” Professor Nguyen Lan Viet, Vice President of the Vietnam Heart Association said at the press conference on the 18th Congress of Cardiology on October 5th. He said high blood pressure quadrupled the risk of dying from stroke and tripled the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, compared with people without the disease.
Mr. Viet recommends that to diagnose the disease, the simplest way is to measure blood pressure regularly and actively to control it. At the same time, people should examine their health every 6 months to detect body abnormalities early and promptly treat them.
Vietnam’s disease pattern has changed a lot. Non-communicable diseases tend to increase, while infectious diseases decrease. Which, 4 main diseases are increasing and leading causes of death including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and mental disorders.
In Vietnam, in 1970 about 2% of adults had hypertension. To date, epidemiological research by the NHI shows that 25% of adults have hypertension, in some places this rate is up to 40%. High blood pressure is very common, but many people are apathetic, subjective, uninterested, uncontrolled, and treated unfollowing doctors’ guidance. Meanwhile, this is a silent disease with many potential complications, especially cardiovascular disease, according to doctors.
Associate Professor Nguyen Manh Hung, Director of the Vietnam Heart Institute, said that people do not really care about their blood pressure, especially do not have the habit of periodic health checks. Of those with high blood pressure, half don’t know they have this disease. Once the disease is diagnosed, one-third of them do not receive treatment.
“Among those treated, 64% did not achieve the targeted blood pressure of less than 140/90 mmHg,” said Mr. Hung, adding that hypertension leads to serious complications such as stroke, heart failure, vision impairment, blindness, kidney failure…
The causes of high blood pressure are closely related to nutrition diet and lifestyle. People eat more comfortably, and obesity rates increase. Smoking, tobacco, drinking alcohol… are the causes leading to high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. Besides, the pressure of modern lifestyles makes people stressed and cause diseases.
Experts estimate that the number of people diagnosed with high blood pressure is still lower than reality, the number of people receiving treatment is quite low, and the number of patients receiving proper treatment is not much. The burden of morbidity and mortality due to hypertension has become an urgent problem today, requiring early diagnosis and timely, adequate treatment.
The principles of hypertension treatment are lifestyle adjustments such as reducing obesity, reducing salt, limiting foods high in cholesterol, saturated fatty acids, reducing alcohol, and quitting smoking. Increase physical activity at an appropriate level, and avoid nervous tension. In addition, the patient needs to choose the right antihypertensive drug, prescribed by the doctor; blood pressure should be lowered slowly, avoiding decreasing too quickly; treatment should be continuous and long-term.
