World Hypertension Day is observed on May 17 to spread mass awareness about hypertension among public and hypertensive patients. The World Hypertension League (WHL) had initiated and designated the day being an umbrella to organizations.
Hypertension plays a key role in increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and coronary heart disease.
It can also invite the conditions such as heart failure, dementia, and chronic kidney disease.
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Date of World Hypertension Day Observance
17th of May.
History of World Hypertension Day
World Hypertension Day Launched
The first World Hypertension Day was launched by the World Hypertension League on May 14, 2005. It was marked with a simple theme — ‘Awareness of high blood pressure.
New Date of World Hypertension Day
Since 2006, the world has been observing the day annually on May 17. In 2006, the theme for the day was ‘Treat to Goal’. It aims at maintaining the controlled BP (blood pressure).
World Hypertension Day Celebration Ideas
Ensure Your Mental Health
It is observed that people who take too much stress and tension or live in an unhealthy environment, they are more prone to get issues of hypertension or blood pressure. On World Hypertension Day, take a pledge of trying your level best to not give heat to anxiety or mental tension.
Either walk away from such a stressful situation or be prompt and quick to fix the source of your worries.
Read good literature, holy scripture, or other sources that can boost your positivity and hopes. Cultivate an optimistic approach towards your life and adverse circumstances. Try to remain close to nature and the natural for repelling hypertension.
Have a Healthy Diet
A healthy diet cannot only boost your physical well-being but also can lift up your mood and mental state. Eat all types of foods to get all types of nutrients. Introduce your plate with more fruits and vegetables.
Avoid fried, frozen, or spicy food. Replace it with good nutrition, ensure you do not take a higher amount of trans or saturated fat.
Keep Your BP in Check
Whether you are normal or unhealthy or caught by any disease, if you observe any symptoms that relate to higher or lower BP, get yourself checked. Follow the advice and prescription given by your physician without any delay or negligence towards it.
Cultivate a Good Habit
We keep listening to the benefits of exercises and workouts, still, this is what we skip the most. On this day, cultivate a habit of exercising every day. Add it as an essential part of your daily routine.
Check Your Weight Regularly
Increased weight is the prime villain behind many diseases. Make sure that you do not become a victim of it. If you are finding that your old clothes are not fitting into your body, take it as an alarm to watch your weight. Keep it in check and more than that, shut all your laziness and start to work, exercise, and walk.
Your Family Members
Our mothers, who tirelessly serve the whole family, usually neglect to take care of themselves.
Make sure that they get themselves medically checked. Give special attention to your family members over the age of 40 or 45. If you have got elderly people in your home, and monitor their BP on regular basis.
If you have a long-pending medical check-up, let this day be the one to get it done.
If You Have the Conditions
If you are already suffering from BP or hypertension, motivate yourself for self-care. Take your extra efforts as a gesture of self-love.
If you have one or more family members with such a condition, motivate them for following the right diet chart and exercise routine.
Why is World Hypertension Day Observed?
It's Unpredictable
All the aspects related to hypertension or BP are sudden, surprising, and uncertain. The symptoms around this condition tend to cheat and revisit without any invitation or prior clues.
It Enhances Awareness
Marking World Hypertension Day keeps you informed about its facts and myths. It alarms you about what is to be done and whatnot. It also aware is the mass about how to prevent.
It Promotes Health
The day also motivates us to maintain a healthy lifestyle that focuses on diet, exercise, and medication in balance.
Significance of World Hypertension Day
Observing World Hypertension Day makes people debunk their myths and understand more about hypertension — the ‘silent killer’.
Facts and Figures about Hypertension
Hypertension Affecting a Shocking Number
It has been affecting over 30% of the adult population around the world. Can you guess this worldwide population in numbers? It is more than 1 billion (people).
Hypertension Leads to Severe Medical Conditions
Many of us do not even realize that we are suffering from hypertension. We take it as just a normal condition of more stress or anxiety.
When the condition of hypertension is not treated on time, it leads one towards high blood pressure. The situation of high blood pressure increases the risk factor of getting many other severe medical conditions.
These conditions may be:
- Heart failure
- Coronary artery disease
- Stroke
- Atrial fibrillation
- Dementia
- Vision loss
- Chronic kidney disease
World Hypertension Day Themes
Healthy Diet, Healthy Blood Pressure (2007)
The theme aimed at highlighting not only the important aspects related to BP but also the factors that play a key role in hypertension.
Measure Your BP... At Home (2008)
Technological advancements in medical fields and instruments made it possible to measure your BP at home. As per the study, its accuracy rate is pretty good, allowing you to measure it safely.
Know Your Numbers (2013-2018)
This theme existed for the period of 45 years for five years of period. It focused on making the worldwide population aware of the threat of increasing high BP cases.
Measure Your Blood Pressure Accurately: Control It, Live Longer (2021)
The theme aims at increasing the worldwide awareness rate among those who belong to lower or middle-class families.
How to Lower Hypertension?
One can focus on the below aspects!
Workout
An active lifestyle helps in decreasing systolic BP. On average, it can lower it down by 4 to 9 mmHg.
People who perform exercise and workouts, they are more prone to maintain a healthy weight and thus the controlled level of BP.
In long run, the below helps amazingly:
- Flexibility exercises
- Aerobics
- Strength training exercises.
If you cannot go out, the following indoor practices can help:
- Walking inside the house
- Zumba dance
- Yoga.
And it is advised to make it a routine and perform the dynamic exercises for at least half an hour to 45 minutes.
DASH Diet
DASH is the abbreviation of Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension.
A DASH diet incorporates:
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Whole grain cereals
- Legumes
- Low-fat dairy products
- Nuts
- Fish
- Blue salt
- Lean meat
One not only needs to consider what is to be eaten but also what should not be eaten.
Here are some suggestions for what should be avoided:
- Trance fats
- Saturated fats
- Added sugar
- Salt intake: it should not be more than 5 g of salt, that is – almost 1 tablespoon. The idea is to limit the sodium content per day, which is — not more than 2300 MG of sodium in a day.
Our heart is directly related to the level of BP. For maintaining lighter blood pressure, it is recommended to eat a heart-healthy diet. It decreases the risk of:
- Heart diseases
- Heart attack
- Stroke
Emphasizing a healthy diet to stop hypertension gives amazing results.
Regular Medication
The most common mistake that most BP or hypertension patients do is – they stop their medication.
Most people take medical help and follow the medicinal advice after getting detected with the condition of hypertension. But once the blood pressure level comes in a normal range, they start to skip or stop their medicines.
It is highly recommended to not lower or stop the medicines without consulting the physician. Medicines are as important as a healthy diet and exercise when it comes to BP or hypertension.
Stopping medicines may lead one to go back to the previous level. It is also possible that the BP may shoot up to an increased level, resulting in acute complications.
Avoid Drinking
The consumption of too much alcohol elevates the unhealthy levels of BP. If a person consumes more than three drinks at a time, and it raises the BP on a temporary basis.
For avoiding long-term increases, one should distance himself from repeated binge drinking.
If you don’t want to lead yourself towards the serious complications of hypertension, BP, or heart-related issues, either avoid drinking or have it in moderation.
Avoid Smoking
Although we do not have evidence to prove the relation between smoking and hypertension, yet we know that cigarettes do increase the level of BP for quite a while.
Whether it is secondhand smoke or tobacco, one should avoid all types of forms of them for avoiding the risk of stroke or heart attack.
World Hypertension Day Challenges
Negligence
Many people do not proceed for medical help for curing the condition of hypertension because of seeing it as a mental disorder which is often treated as a stigma in our society.
Lack of Knowledge
There is one more prime challenge that we deal with as a human society. Many people live in myths and illusionary misconceptions. They think that hypertension is not curable. Where the fact is — hypertension is a controllable and preventable condition.
