NEW DELHI: Nearly 3 out of 10 people in India, aged between 18 and 54 years, have never got their blood pressure measured.
This has been revealed by the ICMR – National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (ICMR-NCDIR) in a study published recently in the International Journal of Public Health (IJPH).
According to the ICMR-NCDIR study, the southern parts of the country have the highest average rates of 76% ever-measured blood pressures with standout UT/states including Lakshadweep (91%), Kerala (89%), Tamil Nadu (83%), and Puducherry (83%).
In north India, 70% people said they had got their blood pressure measures, at one time or the other. In contrast, the study found, comparatively lower numbers had their BP checked in certain regions and states, such as Madhya Pradesh (62.4%) and Chhattisgarh (62%) in the central region, Rajasthan (58%) in the north, Odisha (56%) and Jharkhand (60%) in the east, Gujarat (58%) in the west, and Nagaland (58%) in the northeast.
Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the artery walls. It’s measured in millimetres of mercury (mm Hg).
According to the American Heart Association, high blood pressure means the pressure in your arteries is higher than it should be. Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, senior consultant, internal medicine at Indraprastha Apollo hospital said high blood pressure is a precursor to many critical illnesses, for example heart attack, stroke and, in the long run, kidney failure.
“Earlier, it was said that people should get their blood pressure and blood sugar levels assessed after 40 years of age. But now, given that heart attack, stroke and other non-communicable diseases triggered by an imbalance in these risk factors affecting people at younger age, say 25 years, it would be advisable to get the parameters measured early on,” Dr Chatterjee said.
High blood pressure is defined as systolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 90 mm Hg. Furthermore, if someone’s systolic blood pressure is between 120- and 140-mm Hg and her or his diastolic blood pressure is between 80- and 90-mm Hg, then the person is considered to be pre-hypertensive.
This has been revealed by the ICMR – National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (ICMR-NCDIR) in a study published recently in the International Journal of Public Health (IJPH).
According to the ICMR-NCDIR study, the southern parts of the country have the highest average rates of 76% ever-measured blood pressures with standout UT/states including Lakshadweep (91%), Kerala (89%), Tamil Nadu (83%), and Puducherry (83%).
In north India, 70% people said they had got their blood pressure measures, at one time or the other. In contrast, the study found, comparatively lower numbers had their BP checked in certain regions and states, such as Madhya Pradesh (62.4%) and Chhattisgarh (62%) in the central region, Rajasthan (58%) in the north, Odisha (56%) and Jharkhand (60%) in the east, Gujarat (58%) in the west, and Nagaland (58%) in the northeast.
Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the artery walls. It’s measured in millimetres of mercury (mm Hg).
According to the American Heart Association, high blood pressure means the pressure in your arteries is higher than it should be. Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, senior consultant, internal medicine at Indraprastha Apollo hospital said high blood pressure is a precursor to many critical illnesses, for example heart attack, stroke and, in the long run, kidney failure.
“Earlier, it was said that people should get their blood pressure and blood sugar levels assessed after 40 years of age. But now, given that heart attack, stroke and other non-communicable diseases triggered by an imbalance in these risk factors affecting people at younger age, say 25 years, it would be advisable to get the parameters measured early on,” Dr Chatterjee said.
High blood pressure is defined as systolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 90 mm Hg. Furthermore, if someone’s systolic blood pressure is between 120- and 140-mm Hg and her or his diastolic blood pressure is between 80- and 90-mm Hg, then the person is considered to be pre-hypertensive.