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19 February 2010
KUALA LUMPUR: Hypertension has been on the rise in Malaysia over the past 10 years and now affects an estimated 4.8 million Malaysians, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican.
About 43% of Malaysians over the age of 30 suffer from the chronic disease, an increase from the 33% recorded in 1996, he said in his opening speech at the Malaysian Society of Hypertension’s Seventh Annual Scientific Meeting,
Quoting statistics from the Third National Health and Morbidity Survey 2006 on the prevalence of hypertension among Malaysians above the age of 30, he said that of the 43%, only 36% were aware they had hypertension and 87.7% of these were receiving treatment.
However, only 26% of those treated managed to achieve their target blood pressure.
Dr Ismail also said that the World Hypertension Day 2010 would be observed on May 17, with the theme "Healthy Weight-Healthy Blood Pressure."
He said screenings for the public would be held in every state as part of the campaign, but added that his department encouraged people to test their own blood pressure regularly.
He also launched a "hypertension clinical guidelines" pocket guide to help medical practitioners diagnose and better manage hypertension in their daily practice.
Malaysian Society of Hypertension president Dr Azani Mohd Daud said that doctors only manage to diagnose four out of 10 patients with hypertension as the disease had few outward symptoms.
"Many people do not know that they are hypertensive. Those who show symptoms like headaches and dizziness are actually the lucky ones," he told reporters in a conference.
"That is why we are encouraging people to take their own blood pressure tests at home to keep track of their blood pressure levels," he said.
He added that people must not stop taking their hypertension drugs without consulting their doctors first as their blood pressure remained low as long as they stayed on their medication.
This article was first published in www.thestar.com.my on 29 January 2010.
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