DOCTOR SPEAKS: Covid-19 and hypertension - the signs to look out for

Recent data shows a higher risk of COVID-19 affecting patients with high blood pressure. With the onset of COVID-19, the early studies showed that high blood pressure was the most common pre-existing condition, especially among the people hospitalised. It went as high as 30-50 percent of the patients. There is also research indicative of doubling the chances of death by a coronavirus in people with high blood pressure. This isn’t even limited to age anymore because hypertension starts as early as 35 years and is often ignored as stress.

This is an extremely serious matter in the times that we are living in. Not just that, but hypertension in itself has been labelled the ‘silent killer’ by the India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI) study conducted last year. The study also stated that one in four adults has high blood pressure in India. Among people with high blood pressure, only half have been diagnosed and of those, only 1 in 10 have blood pressure under control. Systemic hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases - which is responsible for approximately 45 percent of global cardiovascular disease mortality and morbidity.

Hypertension accounts for 29 percent of all stroke and 24 percent of heart attacks and is attributable to 10.8 percent of all deaths in India. Indians experience cardiovascular deaths at least 10 years earlier than those in other developed countries. A meta-analysis of various studies done in different parts of India revealed that the overall prevalence of hypertension in India was 29.8 percent. Further analysis showed a difference in the prevalence of hypertension in urban (33.8 percent) and rural (27.6 percent) populations. However, this difference is gradually getting narrow due to dietary and lifestyle changes. If left untreated, hypertension in younger people can cause artery stiffening which can result in an increased risk of a stroke as well as kidney and brain damage in the future. Hypertension is now the most prevalent chronic disease in India.