Understanding the Scale of Global Hypertension

Did you know that high blood pressure is one of the most common health conditions in the world? Almost one billion people – about one in seven – are affected by high or elevated blood pressure levels that significantly increase their health risks.

High blood pressure is truly a global problem, and treating it required a worldwide effort to change habits, learn more about the causes of high blood pressure and take treatment seriously.

High blood pressure’s worldwide coverage

Unlike many transmittable diseases, which spread in developing countries but are largely not an issue in the developed world, high blood pressure is a condition that is truly global in its distribution.

In fact, people in the developed world often suffer from high blood pressure at rates far greater than those found in the developing world. In Poland, an astonishing 68.9 per cent of men and 72.5% of women have higher-than-normal blood pressure.

Treating a worldwide health problem

While many health conditions can be eradicated with medication alone, high blood pressure is often best treated with a combination of medication and changes to the person’s lifestyle, diet and activity level.

Because of this, it’s a health condition that can inspire global change to people’s diet habits and focus on exercise. Every year, high blood pressure is a wake-up call to an incredible number of people that they need to pay more attention to their health.

An increasing problem for children

Over the last 20 years, rates of high blood pressure in children have increased. New data from the United States shows that an increasing number of children have high blood pressure due to the growing obesity problem in many countries.

Since high blood pressure can happen early in life, it’s important to start changing our habits to prevent it as early as possible. From diet to exercise, habits learned as children tend to continue throughout life and keep blood pressure levels normal.