World Hypertension Day was observed yesterday, May 17 in order to raise awareness and promote hypertension prevention, detection and control.

High blood pressure is the main risk factor to develop cardiovascular disease. "Know your numbers" is the theme for this year. Its purpose is to raise awareness worldwide about the importance of knowing what is your blood pressure measurement. Hypertension, also known as high or raised blood pressure, is a condition in which the blood vessels have persistently raised pressure. Blood is carried from the heart to all parts of the body in the vessels.

Each time the heart beats, it pumps blood into the vessels. Blood pressure is created by the force of blood pushing against the walls of blood vessels (arteries) as it is pumped by the heart. The higher the pressure the harder the heart has to pump. Most of the people are not aware of the ill-effects of hypertension, which is called silent killer. Doctors are worried over people’s misconceptions and wrong notions about high blood pressure (hypertension), which often leads to sudden deaths.

In an alarming trend, cases of hypertension among children is found to be on a rapid rise India. This was recently ascertained through a preventive medical screening test conducted by a non-governmental organization. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) latest report , only 40 per cent of Indian population is aware that they are suffering from hypertension. In addition, the health ministry in a study in recent past also claimed that one out of every eight person in India is suffering from the problem of blood pressure.

The study, 'May Measurement Month 2018', says, "about 200 million adults in India are victims of hypertension. Out of them, 40 per cent are aware of the disease with which they are suffering from and only 20 per cent of them are being treated. The study adds that hypertension is attributable to 10.8 per cent of all deaths in India. High blood pressure (BP) is ranked as the third most important risk factor for attributable burden of disease in south Asia (2010). Hypertension (HTN) exerts a substantial public health burden on cardiovascular health status and healthcare systems in India. HTN is directly responsible for 57 per cent of all stroke deaths and 24 per cent of all coronary heart disease (CHD) deaths in India.