Hypertension: Affected people often do not know about their disease
high blood pressure is one of the most widespread diseases in Germany. The number of unreported cases is particularly high. Around 30 percent of those affected do not know that they hypertension to have. Because the disease often causes only mild symptoms for a long time. However, the mild symptoms often hide the drastic possible consequences.
the German Hypertension League draws attention to the fact that too many hypertension diseases remain undiscovered in Germany. According to a recent study published in the renowned journal “The Lancet“ was presented, is the number of unreported cases of high blood pressure in this country almost 30 percent.
“A sad record”
The results of the study have shown that only 71 percent of female and 72 percent of male hypertensive patients in Germany know about their condition.
The number of unreported cases seems to have increased in recent years. In 2015, the Robert Koch Institute put the proportion of people with high blood pressure who were unaware of their condition at 20 percent.
The experts of the German Hypertension League consider it possible that the Corona-pandemic has strengthened this trend and many people for fear of contagion Routine examinations not observed to have.
„This is a sad record“, emphasizes the chairman of the board of the German Hypertension League professor dr medical Ulrich Wenzel. According to him, the only way to uncover more diseases is to measure blood pressure regularly.
Untreated high blood pressure can be life-threatening
The physicians of the hypertension league expressly emphasize that an untreated high blood pressure can even become life-threatening in the long term.
About half of all strokes and heart attacks and about a third of all kidney diseases arise from hypertension. Also dementia diseases and blindness are among the long-term consequences of untreated high blood pressure.
High blood pressure is the starting point for numerous secondary diseases
„High blood pressure is the starting point for many secondary diseases and lays the foundation for the multimorbidity of those affected in old age“, clarified Dr. with. Marcel SchorrleppSpokesman of the Working Group on General Practitioners and Internal Medicine.
According to him, high blood pressure needs to be treated. “The earlier and more consistently, the better“, says the hypertension expert.
Why so many cases of hypertension go unnoticed
In many cases, high blood pressure runs its course for a long time without any severe symptoms. Affected people often notice headache, inner unrestoccasionally too dizziness. However, such symptoms are often accepted as an “indisposition” and not associated with an underlying disease.
Measure, measure, measure
Ultimately, according to the German Hypertension League, only one regular measurement of blood pressure reveals hypertension. In too many cases, this happens just by chance following routine checkups or after a cardiovascular event.
Experts therefore recommend checking your blood pressure from time to time. From values over 140/90 mm Hg begins the area where doctors speak of hypertension. Blood pressure readings are ideal below 130/80 mm Hg.
Lower high blood pressure naturally
If the values are only slightly elevated, hypertension can often be averted by adopting a healthier lifestyle. One of the most effective measures is healthy eating, enough exercise and reaching respectively maintaining a healthy body weight.
For more tips, see the article “Lower blood pressure naturally“. (vb)
Author and source information
This text corresponds to the specifications of medical specialist literature, medical guidelines and current studies and has been checked by medical professionals.
Author:
Diploma-Editor (FH) Volker Blasek
Sources:
- Zhou B, Carrillo-Larco RM, Danaei G et al. Worldwide trends in hypertension prevalence and progress in treatment and control from 1990 to 2019: a pooled analysis of 1201 population-representative studies with 104 million participants; in: The Lancet (2021), thelancet.com
- Robert Koch Institute. Epidemiological Bulletin 5/2015 (PDF, published: February 2, 2015), rki.de
- German Hypertension League: Almost every third person knows nothing about their high blood pressure (published: April 7th, 2022), hochdruckliga.de
Important NOTE:
This article contains general advice only and should not be used for self-diagnosis or treatment. He can not substitute a visit at the doctor.