WHO Report: One In Five Chinese Adults Have Hypertension

Hypertension is a serious public health problem in China affecting at least one in five adults, says a new WHO report.

AsianScientist (Oct. 21, 2013) – Hypertension is a serious public health problem in China, according to a new report by the World Health Organization and researchers from Peking University.

A total of 266 million Chinese suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure) and, among those aged 15 and above, about 24 percent have the condition, said Shi Xiaoming, head of the chronic diseases division at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Despite this, the report shows that more than 40 percent of Chinese people with hypertension are unaware of their condition, about 50 percent are receiving no medication for it, and about 80 percent are not controlling it well.

High blood pressure is a main risk factor for heart attacks, heart failure, stroke and other arterial diseases.

The increased incidence of hypertension has been caused by changes in lifestyle and diet, and preventing the condition requires not only medication but also people’s awareness, said Shi.

When current anti-hypertensive treatment guidelines are followed, blood pressure can be successfully controlled in up to 84 percent of cases, according to a new Chinese study that was presented at the recent European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2013 in Amsterdam.

The Chinese cross-sectional study of almost 3,000 hypertensive patients treated at a community health center in Yulin, Chengdu shows that current recommendations for treating hypertension can be highly successful, said lead investigator, Yujia Liang, MD, PhD from West China Hospital, Sichuan University in Chengdu.

The ESC in China program includes new guidelines on hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

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