High blood pressure becoming a major killer in developing countries

Thursday, November 24, 2016 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: hypertension, blood pressure, epidemic

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(NaturalNews) High blood pressure is not a medical condition that is confined largely to Western cultures. According to new research, hypertension is now spreading around the world, as globalization spreads economic growth to traditionally poorer parts of the world.

Agence France Presse (AFP) reported that the number of people suffering from high blood pressure around the world has doubled over the past 40 years, with researchers saying that the biggest rise in hypertension is being seen in south Asia and Africa.

"High blood pressure is the leading risk factor for stroke and heart disease, and kills around 7.5 million people worldwide every year," lead author Prof. Majid Ezzati, of Imperial College in London, said.

"Taken globally, high blood pressure is no longer a problem of the Western world or wealthy countries," he told AFP. "It is a problem of the world's poorest countries and people."

Researchers found that between 1975 and 2015, the total number of adults with high blood pressure rose from 594 million to more than 1.1 billion, according to their review of data published recently in The Lancet medical journal.

WHO's goal of reducing worldwide hypertension won't be met without policy changes

At the same time, countries where people earn higher incomes like Australia, Germany, Canada and Japan have seen "impressive reductions" in the prevalence of hypertension, the study found.

The researchers found that the largest increases in the number of people with high blood pressure were in low- and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and some Pacific island nations.

In 2015, more than 50 percent of all adults with hypertension – about 590 million people – were living in east, southeast and south Asia. Of that figure, 226 million were in China, and 199 million lived in India. About one-third of women living in most West African countries also experience hypertension, the study found.

The researchers, in their paper, noted that high blood pressure also remains a "serious health problem" in many countries in central and eastern Europe. There, more than one-third of men experience hypertension.

People who have high blood pressure have a greater chance of having a stroke and developing heart and kidney disease, as well as dementia. According to guidelines established by the World Health Organization (WHO), persons with a blood pressure of 140/90 or higher are considered to be hypertensive.

Ezzati says that without developing and implementing "effective policies" to ensure that the world's poorest are able to improve their diets, in particular by reducing their salt intake and making more fresh fruits and vegetables available, the WHO's target of reducing hypertension cases by one-quarter by 2025 is "unlikely to be achieved."

By comparison, the populations of Canada, Australia, Britain and the United States, Peru, South Korea and Singapore experienced the lowest proportion of adults living with high blood pressure in 2015, with no more than one in eight women and one in five men having the condition.

Your diet makes a big difference in contributing to high blood pressure

As Natural News has reported, there are a number of natural ways to reduce high blood pressure naturally:

-- Low blood pressure diet: The plan should be to balance your body's pH and remove toxins. You can speed this process up by consuming lots of fresh, raw, organic produce, and avoiding processed food junk. Raw, fresh, organic produce should make up 80 percent of your diet, and should include more vegetables than fruit.

-- Drinking more fluids helps, but not soda, sugary drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, etc. Many people have high blood pressure simply because they are dehydrated.

-- The foods you eat matter as well. For instance, raw almonds, cayenne pepper, coconut water, raw cacao, turmeric and garlic are all foods that are known to help control high blood pressure.

Many people walk around with hypertension and don't know it because they've never had their BP checked. Take the time to have your blood pressure checked regularly; it's not called "the silent killer" for nothing.

Sources:

Samaa.tv

NaturalNews.com