Indore: The doctors on Wednesday expressed concern over increase in number of patients of hypertension in the city as Indore registered 50 percent rise in the disease among youths in last one decade. They blamed inactive life style for the rise and said the disease is more prevalent among youths.
Talking to newspersons on the eve of World Hypertension Day, cardiologist Dr Akhilesh Jain said high blood pressure or hypertension is a silent killer as it manifests itself quietly and remains undetected for long time.
“Long-term hypertension among youths results in damaging kidney, liver, heart, brain and eyes and it severely hampers productivity between 45-50 years of age,” he said. Talking about the reasons of disease, he said that skipping health check-ups, popping pills without consultation, sleep apnea and prescription of certain drugs by physicians are factors responsible for hypertension. The theme of World Hypertension Day this year is, ‘Know Your Numbers’. The theme has been set with the goal to increase awareness about high blood pressure among people across the globe.
Explaining the theme, Dr Jain said if blood pressure crosses 140/90 mm hg, it is a condition of hypertension, which does not show clear symptoms. However, severe hypertension shows signs of headaches, sleepiness, palpitation, blurred vision, fatigue, dizziness, confusion, ringing sensation in ears, breathing difficulty and irregular heartbeat that may even lead to coma.
Suggesting remedy, Dr Jain asked people to shift to DASH, that is, Dietary Approach To Stop Hypertension. “Low salt, high fibre, balanced potassium, vitamin and mineral-rich diet are helpful in controlling blood pressure and hypertension,” he said.
What is DASH diet?
DASH diet plan was developed to lower blood pressure without medication. It is sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The first DASH diet research showed that it can lower blood pressure.
Since then, numerous studies have shown that the DASH diet reduces the risk of many diseases, including certain kinds of cancer, stroke, heart disease, heart failure, kidney stones and diabetes. It has been proven to be an effective way to lose weight and become healthier at the same time.