Hypertension: half of men and 40% of women suffer from it but one in three do not know it
Action on diet and lifestyle is necessary: reducing salt consumption should be accompanied by increasing fruit and vegetable intake, appropriate physical activity, weight loss if in excess, and adherence to any therapies already in use
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Key points
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In Italy, half of the men and 39% of the women are hypertensive. As many as one third of the population does not know they are hypertensive. This is the first bitter balance drawn by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità on the occasion of World Hypertension Day on 17 May, dedicated to a disease that affects about 1 in 3 adults globally.
High blood pressure - the elevated pressure exerted against artery walls - is one of the leading causes of premature death and disability worldwide, significantly increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, dementia and blindness. 17 May, established to raise awareness and combat this condition, marks World Hypertension Day.
The sketch of the disease
.Blood pressure is elevated when measurements taken on both arms, several times consecutively and on different days, give blood pressure values greater than or equal to 140 mmHg for systolic (maximum) pressure and/or 90 mmHg for diastolic (minimum) pressure. In Italy, the Department of Cardiovascular, Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases and Ageing of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Iss) periodically conducts the Italian Health Examination Survey (HES) - Progetto Cuore, the survey that involves examining samples of the general population aged between 35 and 74 years to monitor the population's state of health.
The First Results of the Heart Project
"Preliminary data from the ongoing Italian Health Examination Survey-PROJECT HEART show, in the samples surveyed in 2023 and 2024, a prevalence of elevated blood pressure of 37% in men and 23% in women, and if people with elevated blood pressure and/or on specific pharmacological treatment, i.e. people defined as hypertensive, are taken into account, the prevalence is 49% in men and 39% in women. The average value of systolic blood pressure was 134 mmHg in men and 126 mmHg in women, and the average value of diastolic blood pressure was 80 mmHg in men and 75 mmHg in women,' state Luigi Palmieri and Chiara Donfrancesco, researchers from the Department of Cardiovascular, Endocrine-Metabolic Diseases and Ageing of the Iss. "Among the people found to be hypertensive during the survey," they add, "about a third were unaware that they might have blood pressure control problems.
Yet, they note from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, in 2018/2019 compared to previous surveys in 1998/2002 and 2008/2012, a significant reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure was observed in both men (1998/2002: 136/86 mmHg; 2008/2012: 132/84 mmHg; and 2018/2019: 132/78 mmHg) and in women (132/82 mmHg, 126/78 mmHg and 122/73 mmHg, respectively), of the prevalence of elevated blood pressure (defined as systolic blood pressure>=140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure>=90 mmHg) (50%, 40% and 30% in men and 39%, 25% and 16% in women, respectively), and of hypertension, defined as elevated blood pressure and/or use of specific drug treatment (54%, 49% and 44% in men and 45%, 35% and 32% in women, respectively in the 3 surveys). Time trends that "were also found when considering the data disaggregated by age group and education level".
