Hypertension Facts
"Some people only take medicine when they don't feel well, but actually their blood pressure can be high without feeling any symptoms" Source: Hospital nurse
* For every person treated for hypertension, there is one person untreated and possibly undiagnosed.
* It is estimated that about 1 billion people or approximately 25% of the world's adult population currently have hypertension, associated with 7.1 million deaths annually and an even greater number of cardiovascular disease events.
Source: MBF Australia
By 2025, more than 1.5 billion adults across the world are expected to be affected by elevated blood pressure.
Source: Science Alert
Hypertension .... in most cases, its cause is unknown.
Source: ScienceDaily - Aug. 2, 2000
FACTS ABOUT CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
* CVDs are the number one cause of death globally: more people die annually from CVDs than from any other cause;
* An estimated 17.5 million people died from CVDs in 2005, representing 30% of all global deaths. Of these deaths, an estimated 7.6 million were due to coronary heart disease and 5.7 million were due to stroke.
* Over 80% of CVD deaths take place in low- and middle-income countries and occur almost equally in men and women;
* By 2015, almost 20 million people will die from CVDs, mainly from heart disease and stroke. These are projected to remain the single leading causes of death.
USA:
High blood pressure (hypertension) killed 54,707 people in the United States in 2004.
* About 73 million people in the United States age 20 and older have high blood pressure.
* One in three adults has high blood pressure.
* Of those people with high blood pressure, 71.8 percent were aware of their condition.
* Of all people with high blood pressure, 61.4 percent were under current treatment, 35.1 percent had it under control, and 64.9 percent did not have it controlled.
* The cause of 90–95 percent of the cases of high blood pressure isn't known; however, high blood pressure is easily detected and usually controllable.
* From 1994 to 2004 the death rate from high blood pressure increased 26.6 percent, and the actual number of deaths rose 56.1 percent.
* Non-Hispanic blacks are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure than are non-Hispanic whites.
* Within the African-American community, those with the highest rates of hypertension, are more likely to be middle aged or older, less educated, overweight or obese, physically inactive, and to have diabetes.
* In 2004 the death rates per 100,000 population from high blood pressure were 15.7 for white males, 51.0 for black males, 14.5 for white females and 40.9 for black females.
(Source: American Heart Association)
EUROPE:
* Diseases of the heart and circulatory system (cardiovascular disease or CVD) are the main cause
of death in Europe: accounting for over 4.35 million deaths each year.
* Nearly half (49%) of all deaths are from CVD (55% of deaths in women and 43% deaths in men).
* CVD causes nearly half of all deaths in Europe (48%) and the EU (42%).
* The main forms of CVD are coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. Just under half of all deaths from CVD are from CHD and nearly a third are from stroke
* CVD is the main cause of death in women in all countries of Europe - and is the main cause of death in men in all countries except France, the Netherlands and Spain.
(Source: European cardiovascular disease statistics - 2008 edition)
Germany & Spain: one in two adults have high blood pressure.
(Source: AP-foodtechnology.com interview with DSM Business Manager, Luc van der Heyden)
UK:
In the UK, around 227,000 people suffer a heart attack each year.
Someone has a heart attack every two minutes.
In about 30% of heart attacks, the patients dies.
(Source: British Heart Foundation)
Australia:
More than 3.6 million Australians over the age of 25 have high blood pressure or are on medication for the condition.
China:
"..One in four, but it is growing...."
(Source: AP-foodtechnology.com interview with DSM Business Manager, Luc van der Heyden)
Some 200 million Chinese people, or 15 percent of the Chinese population, suffer from high blood pressure, according to ministry statistics. But only 30 percent know of their disease, while 25 percent seek treatment.
Source: China.org.cn
WHAT ARE THE ECONOMIC COSTS OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES?
* CVDs affect many people in middle age, very often severely limiting the income and savings of affected individuals and their families. Lost earnings and out of pocket health care payments undermine the socioeconomic development of communities and nations.
* CVDs place a heavy burden on the economies of countries. For example, it is estimated that over the next 10 years (2006-2015), China will lose $558 billion in foregone national income due to the combination of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
* Lower socioeconomic groups in high income countries generally have a greater prevalence of risks factors, diseases and mortality,. A similar pattern is emerging as the CVD epidemic evolves in low and middle income countries.
Source: WHO (World Health Organisation)
