Raising voice against the silent killer

Raising voice against the silent killer
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Highlights

As part of its activities towards World Hypertension Day, which will be observed today, Apollo Hospitals organised an awareness programme on Monday.

World Hypertension Day today

As part of its activities towards World Hypertension Day, which will be observed today, Apollo Hospitals organised an awareness programme on Monday. Set with the theme ‘Know your number’ the programme had participation from eminent doctors in the field who spoke on the condition and its consequences.

“Health problems caused by high blood pressure (BP) are known as hypertension. Blood pressure that goes beyond 140 over 90 mmhg (millimeters) is referred to as Hypertension,” informed Dr Hari Prasad, president of Apollo Hospitals.

“Only 50 per cent of those with hypertension are aware of their condition and in certain communities the awareness is as low as 10 per cent,” he added. Hypertension is known as a silent killer as it causes serious damage to the heart, brain, kidneys, circulation in a silent manner without causing any symptom.

Concurring with Dr Prasad, the Director of Apollo Hospital Dr Venkata S Ram said that upto 30-35 per cent adults in Hyderabad and Telangana have high BP levels, but less than one per cent is aware of their condition. “Upto 1.1 million deaths occur annually accounting for nearly 11 per cent of all deaths in India are caused due to hypertension.” he said.

Dr Venkata added that one can undergo 24-hour BP recording with an automatic device ambulatory blood pressure monitoring –to confirm or exclude the diagnosis. “Every adult should know their BP number. It is as important as one’s weight,” he stated.

Pratap Reddy, a civil servant who is a patient of hypertension said, “I was admitted at Apollo Hospital on September 16 in 2014 where for around 22 days I was in coma. Actually, I didn’t know what exactly happened to me. Doctor had informed me that I was suffering with hypertension”.

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