Mumbai : Sedentary lifestyle, long-working hours, stress at work and unhealthy food habits are making more number of young Indians suffer from hypertension at a very young age.

Hypertension today, is one of the most common lifestyle disease found among majority of the young population. The reason being, lack of exercise, glued to a particular place for long hours, sleep deprival, high consumption of alcohol and indulgence in bad habits like smoking. In fact, among 90% patients suffering from hypertension signify no known cause. This makes it even more important to be alert, warn doctors. Most of them are not even aware that they are suffering from hypertension like condition, which can be fatal in the long run.

“If a patient of any age, comes and tells me that he or she is suddenly panting or experiencing unusual chest pain while doing a regular workout, there are high chances that the patient must be suffering from chronic risk factors associated with heart disease, such as elevated cholesterol or triglyceride levels, high blood pressure and diabetes,” said Dr Pradeep Gadge, Consultant Diabetologist at Shrey Diabetes Centre.

Dr Gadge, added, “An important point to note that these patients are not even aware that they are suffering from hypertension like condition. This could potentially be a grey area giving rise to the risk factors. This can also be described by the ‘Rule of Halves’ in hypertension. It states that half of hypertensive patients remain undiagnosed, half of those with known hypertension do not receive any treatment and half of those who are treated, fail to achieve adequate control.”

Studies show that hypertension is likely to end up being an epidemic in the near future, and approximately one-third of our population will suffer from it by 2020. Currently, estimates show that the incidence of hypertension is 20 to 40% in urban areas and 12 to 17% in rural areas of India. People with blood pressure of above 140/90 are considered to be in the hypertensive category. Major causes for high blood pressure are identified as, late eating, excessive time spent on smartphones by youngsters who seem to be living in a virtual world instead of physically walking around and communicating with people around, sedentary lifestyles etc.

Among all the other major chronic illnesses, hypertension can also lead to kidney scarring. Raising an alarm over rise in kidney failures among the younger population Dr Jyotsna Zope, Consultant Nephrologist,Mukta Dialysis Centre & Bhakti Vedant Hospital said, “High blood pressure (hypertension) is known to damage the kidneys. If your blood pressures remains controlled, it can gradually reduce the risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart attacks and strokes. Hypertension is both an important cause and consequence of kidney disease. In some patients it can be difficult to determine which came first.”

Dr Zope added, “Today’s youth is very casual about their health. It has been observed that besides unhealthy food habits, these youngsters are deprived of good sleep. Today, the sleep hours of these youngsters have got decreased by two hours per night. Such kind of sleep deprivation leads to higher risk of blood pressure & coronary heart disease. Apart from heart disease, hypertension increases the risk of stroke, heart failure, kidney damage, blindness and many more chronic problems. The risk of disease and death doubles with each 20-point rise in the systolic pressure, or a 10-point rise in diastolic pressure.”

Doctors advocate an awareness campaign among the younger generation, educating them about the perils of hypertension, including special training programs on blood pressure management. “Youngsters should also go for regular check-ups, especially if there family members are suffering from hypertension,” advises Dr Ghadge.

“Stress is another cause of hypertension. In a schedule of 12-14 working hours, one has to find ways to de-stress, and exercise at some point of the day to reduce the health risks. Lifestyle changes such as cutting down on salt, eating balanced diet, avoiding consumption of alcohol and tobacco related products and regular exercise can maintain an appropriate balance in the blood pressure levels in the early stage. Another thing that people should keep in mind is that it is not necessary that you will get headaches and have swollen feet if you are hypertensive. It’s a silent killer which spreads slowly and gradually.Because untreated or poorly treated, high blood pressure is a condition that can exist without the person being aware of. It is a serious condition that can cause early death. Worse still, it can cause disabilities by being responsible for stroke and heart disease. Untreated hypertension can result in blindness, kidney disease and heart failure, besides putting you at risk for another silent villain, diabetes.” adds Dr Pratik Soni, Senior Consultant Cardiology, Wockhardt Hospitals south mumbai.

Source : Lokesh Shastri