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DHAKA, Nov 7 (IPS) – Parveen Begum (52) has been adding extra salt to her meals since she was a child. However, she did not know that this contributed to high blood pressure.
Recently, she developed a severe headache, which forced her to see a doctor, and when the doctor checked her health, she had hypertension.
“I could not take my daily meals without taking extra salt, which helped in developing the chronic disease in my health. Now I have to take blood pressure medicines regularly, which puts an additional financial burden on my family,” said Parveen, a resident of Musapur in Raipura of Narsingdi district.
Rabeya Begum, 50, is a resident of salt-prone Ashabaria village of Rangabali in coastal Patuakhali. Like many others, she and her family members often drink salt water because freshwater sources are hit every year by coastal floods, cyclones and storm surges. The salinity instruction has reached the aquifer in its vicinity.
Local people face scarcity of drinking water during the dry season as salinity reaches acute levels, so they are forced to drink salt water, Rabeya said.
“I felt symptoms of high blood pressure such as headache and chest pain. So I checked and found the blood pressure. But there are not enough facilities for measuring blood pressure in our remote village,” she said.
Like Parveen and Rabeya, a large number of people in Bangladesh suffer from high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, but most cases remain undiagnosed. High blood pressure is a chronic disease and also a silent killer.
More than 4.5 crore people, or 25% of the total population of Bangladesh, have high blood pressure, according to a recent study by the Bangladesh National Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
Hypertension or high blood pressure occurs when the pressure level in the blood vessels reaches 140/90 mmHg or higher. A healthy lifestyle, quitting smoking and staying more active can help lower blood pressure.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1.28 billion adults aged 30 to 79 worldwide suffer from high blood pressure, two-thirds of whom live in low- and middle-income countries. An estimated 46 percent of adults with hypertension are unaware of their condition. Only less than half of adults (42 percent) with hypertension are diagnosed and treated.
Undiagnosed hypertension
Undetected hypertension can increase the health burden in Bangladesh. Many people do not take medication because they are not aware of their condition. According to a study, more than half of hypertensive patients are unaware of their condition.
Experts say early identification and improved screening for hypertension can reduce the high global burden of untreated high blood pressure.
According to a 2022 study, hypertension is common among the elderly, and undiagnosed hypertension increases with age. The risk of undetected hypertension was high among people aged 33 to 35. The overall prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension among men and women was similar. Men over 50 years of age had lower levels of awareness and participation in early detection initiatives.
The study found that the prevalence of hypertension is significantly higher among residents of the coastal and eastern regions of Bangladesh.
It suggested that early detection and screening are urgent to control the prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension. The study suggested that authorities should implement robust health promotion measures in the coastal and northern regions of Bangladesh.
Dr. Mahfuzur Rahman Bhuiyan, program manager of the High Blood Pressure Control Program at the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, said it would be possible to reduce the risk of high blood pressure by 50 percent if people avoid taking extra salt while eating . .
He recommended screening people to identify those with high blood pressure.
Hypertension increases the risk of heart disease
Hypertensive heart disease is a long-term condition that worsens over time. In Bangladesh, about 68 percent of deaths are caused by non-communicable diseases, with hypertension accounting for 15 to 20 percent.
According to the first Global Report on Hypertension 2023 released by WHO, approximately 273,000 people die from cardiovascular diseases in Bangladesh every year, while approximately 54 percent of these deaths are due to hypertension.
The report also shows that half of people with hypertension are not even aware of their condition, and that the percentage of people receiving medical treatment for hypertension is alarmingly low, at just 38 percent.
“Hypertension is one of the leading causes of death related to non-communicable diseases. The prevalence of heart disease can be reduced to a large extent by controlling high blood pressure,” Prof. Sohel Reza Choudhury, Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Research at the National Heart Foundation, told a recent webinar.
Dr. Farzana Akter Dorin, National Professional Officer at the WHO Bangladesh Office, suggested strengthening the primary health care system and providing free high blood pressure medicines to reduce the risk of developing heart disease in people.
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© Inter Press Service (2023) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service