Hypertension unexpectedly high among young adults in India -study

 

First nationally representative study of these "major killers found  unexpectedly high rates of hypertension among young adults.It covered more than 1.3 million people,and highlighted that hypertension was higher among adults under 45 than previously estimated and was higher than in Central and Eastern Europe, the region previously estimated to have the highest rates for young adults, researchers found.. the rates of diabetes and hypertension are high among middle-aged and elderly people across all geographic measures and socio demographic groups in India, researchers found. "Understanding how diabetes and hypertension prevalence varies within a country as large as India is essential for targeting of prevention, screening, and treatment services," said Pascal Geldsetzer, lead author of the study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

 

India, home to more than a sixth of the world's population, is in the midst of a rapid epidemiological transition, researchers said. Rates of noncommunicable diseases have risen in recent decades and are likely to continue as India's population ages and urbanises, they said. Meanwhile, many areas of India still face substantial burdens of infectious diseases and poor maternal and child health. The researchers wanted to find out how the prevalence of diabetes and hypertension in India varied by state, rural vs urban location, and by socio demographic characteristics such as education and household wealth. They used health data collected from 1,320,555 adults across India between 2012 and 2014, which included plasma glucose and blood pressure measurements. The findings showed that diabetes and hypertension were prevalent across all geographies and sociodemographic groups.

 

Overall, prevalence of diabetes was 6.1 per cent among women and 6.5 per cent among men; for hypertension, 20.0 per cent among women and 24.5 per cent among men. "India has a window of opportunity to invest in its health system to effectively tackle hypertension and diabetes - both major killers," saidan expertr at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. "The potential for harnessing new technologies to reach the millions affected by these diseases and reverse the course of these epidemics is real. "However, because the epidemics are worsening rapidly, now is the time for urgent action," said expert.