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Spotlight: NCDs — Hypertension

BY ANN MANGOLD; EDITED BY BERNICE BORN

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During the coming months WiRED International will spotlight noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which are the primary health threat in the world today. According to the World Health Organization, NCDs claim 16 million lives a year globally.

 

More than 75% of deaths worldwide are due to NCDs. Their number exceeds that of all deaths from communicable diseases, plus deaths related to maternal and perinatal malnutrition. Our community health education website offers an e-library of more than 350 medical and health information modules, many of which feature NCDs. WiRED International believes that individuals and communities that understand the basics of NCDs can make vast improvements in their health outcomes.

ow can a disease be a “silent killer” with no symptoms, no apparent illness, until it causes damage to our bodies? How can a disease be so dangerous that doctors recommend screening for it by age 3? How can a disease that many attribute to “old age” be such a serious threat to all ages, ethnicities and genders that it affects over one billion people worldwide—and kills nearly nine million annually?1 We’re talking about hypertension, and here are the facts.

 

Hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure, is about blood pushing too hard against the walls of the arteries in our bodies. If that pressure remains too high for too long, damage occurs to major organs, leading to stroke, heart disease, kidney failure and vision impairment. And we may not even know this is happening!

 

By maintaining a healthy diet, healthy weight, not smoking and being physically active, we can help prevent this disease—but not always. A doctor’s diagnosis is the only sure way to know if we have hypertension. Once it develops, it usually lasts a lifetime—BUT, with early detection, it is treatable with lifestyle changes and medication.

 

Check out our WiRED module at http://www.wiredhealthresources.net/presentations/25/story.html to learn more about this “silent killer,” hypertension.

 

1 Sources: World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 

Can you answer these questions from WiRED’s module quiz?

  1. High blood pressure can lead to which of the following health problems? (Choose all that apply.)
    1. Influenza
    2. Kidney failure
    3. Vision problems
    4. Heart failure
    5. Pneumonia
  2. High blood pressure usually has no symptoms.
    1. True
    2. False
  3. Which of the following medicines may cause blood pressure to rise? (Choose all that apply.)
    1. Aspirin
    2. Cold-relief products
    3. Antibiotics
    4. Corticosteroids

 

Answers: 1. B, C and D; 2. True; 3. B and D

 

 

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