Over one third of country’s population is suffering from hypertension or high blood pressure and about 60 per cent of them are actually not aware of it, according to a study conducted by the Cardiological Society of India (CSI).
Announcing the findings of the study at a press conference on Monday, J Shiv Kumar, President of CSI, Telangana said the situation was of ‘serious concern’ as lack of awareness about having hypertension could lead to the risk of heart diseases, brain stroke and blindness, among others.
Hypertension, popularly known as high blood pressure, should not be considered only as a disease of the older people as 25 per cent of the data collected from 70 sites show patients in the age group of 31-45 years, Shiv Kumar added.
The study was conducted on September 21 across all strata of society with active participation from the private and public hospitals.