World Hypertension Day 2023: Theme, History and Significance

World Hypertension Day 2023: Theme, History, Significance

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Tension! Tension! Tension! May be this decades most heard word may be tension. Every person despite of the age may feel tension in his life affairs. Tension may be there for school students for their exams, tension may be there for the parents about their children future, tension may be there for the old age people for their health and tension seems to be normal in these days to hear. But is it normal when considered with the health perspective of a person? Does the tension we use often and the term hypertension used by the medicos convey the same meaning? Well, let us figure out. On the day of 17^th May, World Hypertension League (WHL) is celebrating the World Hypertension Day (WHD) to make the people aware about the cause and consequences of the hypertension condition. Through this blog let us look into the details of the hypertension and the history theme and significance of the World Hypertension Day celebrated by the World Hypertension League.

World Hypertension Day and World Hypertension League

World Hypertension Day (WHD) is celebrated on May 17 every year, conducted by World Hypertension League (WHL). The day is dedicated to the Prevention and Control of Hypertension Globally. This day was introduced with the aim of promoting awareness about hypertension disease, its symptoms, detection, control and treatment. The World Hypertension League (WHL) is an umbrella organization of national hypertension societies and leagues with 85 countries as its members as the part of WHD campaign. The objective of WHD is to communicate to the public the importance of hypertension and its serious medical complications, and to provide information on prevention, detection and treatment. Hypertension is a medical condition in which the force of the blood against the artery walls is too high. That is, we simply say High Blood Pressure. Hypertension is found when the blood pressure is above 140/90, and is considered severe if the pressure is above 180/120. High blood pressure often has no symptoms. By time, if it is untreated, it can cause health conditions, such as heart disease and stroke. Let’s know more about the World Hypertension Day – Theme, History and Significance.

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History of World Hypertension Day 2023

World hypertension day was inaugurated in May 2005 by World Hypertension League. This was a campaign initiated by WHL to promote awareness among people. In high blood pressure force on the arteries is higher and usually it has no signs or symptoms. This day encourage citizens of all countries to prevent and control it. Hypertension is also pampered by the name among the medicos as silent killer, the modern epidemic. In 2005, as the part of new innovative project, the theme was chosen as ‘Awareness of High Blood Pressure’. The 2006 theme was ‘Treat to goal’, with an objective on keeping blood pressure under control. The physicians recommended blood pressures are less than 140/90 mmHg for the general population and for the hypertensive population without any other complications, and less than 130/80 mmHg for those with diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease.

The theme of 2007 WHD was ‘Healthy diet, healthy blood pressure’. With specific themes, the WHL expect to raise awareness not only of hypertension, but also of factors contributing to an increase in the incidence of hypertension and on ways to prevent it. From the positive feedbacks of people, the theme for 2008 was ‘Measure your blood pressure at home’. For the last five-year period 2013-2018, the theme of WHD was ‘Know Your Numbers’ with the goal of increasing high blood pressure awareness in all populations around the world.

Theme of World Hypertension Day 2023

In amidst of the pandemic the World Hypertension league has not put down their effort and initiative of making the people aware about the hypertension. The world hypertension day has been celebrated by the world Hypertension league on the very coming day of 17 May 2023. This year the league has taken the theme Measure your blood pressure accurately, control it, live longer. The theme itself says the function objective and steps that should be taken for the condition. Since the unprecedented condition offered by the pandemic is rising all over the world the league may not be able to conduct all the activities and programs which they used to conduct in the previous years. Utilizing the new digital alternatives, the world hypertension league is about to conduct online course to measure the accurate blood pressure in collaboration with PAHO. The official link to join the same can be found in the official website of the World hypertension League. The interested one can join.

Significance of World Hypertension Day Celebration 2023

Nowadays in so much of busy life people are not getting time for themselves and also are suffering from Stress and Tension which further leads to hypertension problem. It is a type of situation known as high blood pressure. Person suffering from hypertension damages their health and not able to concentrate on their work properly. People become tried in several ways during their routine activities.

So that hypertension is another name of high blood pressure which can cause severe complications and also increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and death. To increase awareness of hypertension, there are two critical components:

Establish high‐capacity community screening programs for recognition of high BP in those at risk.
Promote routine measurement of BP by health‐care professionals at all clinical encounters.

An important initial step for control of hypertension and achievement of the United Nations 2025 goal for a 25% reduction in uncontrolled hypertension is to improve hypertension diagnosis. Enhanced BP screenings through activities of the WHD will contribute to achieving this goal. WHL, with their member organizations and partners for national programs, will work to implement WHD screenings globally. The WHL encourages all members and affiliated organizations to contribute reports on BP screenings. The interested organizations can report themselves in the reporting form which is available on the WHL website (www.whleague.org). Participants are asked to provide general information on their team, location, number screened, and NCD education provided. Where or when feasible, participants may also report on proportion of known treated hypertensive people screened whose BPs are “controlled”. In addition to screening protocols, a Train the Trainer module for establishing an evidence‐based BP screening site, supporting PowerPoint slide sets and YouTube videos, are available. The WHL has also developed a policy statement to strongly encourage the use of automated BP devices rather than manual BP readings in nearly all screening and clinical settings. WHL recognizes that there are complex challenges to the prevention and control of hypertension globally, and, in most settings, efforts to prevent and control hypertension are not comprehensive nor coordinated.

Symptoms of Hypertension

If your blood pressure is extremely high, there may be certain symptoms like:

Severe headache
Fatigue or confusion
Vision problems
Chest pain
Difficulty breathing
Irregular heartbeat
Blood in the urine
Pounding in your chest, neck, or ears

There are two types of high blood pressure: Primary hypertension and Secondary hypertension. For most adults, there’s no identifiable cause of high blood pressure. This type of high blood pressure, called primary (essential) hypertension, tends to develop gradually over many years. Some people have high blood pressure caused by an underlying condition. This type of high blood pressure, called secondary hypertension, tends to appear suddenly and cause higher blood pressure than does primary hypertension. Various conditions and medications can lead to secondary hypertension, including:

Obstructive sleep apnea
Kidney problems
Adrenal gland tumors
Thyroid problems
Certain defects you’re born with (congenital) in blood vessels
Certain medications, such as birth control pills, cold remedies, decongestants, over-the-counter pain relievers and some prescription drugs
Illegal drugs, such as cocaine and amphetamines

Conclusion

Be aware of the Hypertension and live long with a healthy heart. Hope you get idea of World Hypertension Day – Theme, History and Significance. Try to live for yourself in this busy world and be a good human. Avoid all these kinds of tension and follow a healthy t=routine for your life. If you are student who prepares for any competitive exam, understand these things as part of your general awareness block building. If you are a student who feel yourself suffering from hypertension just because of the fear of competitive exams and future then you may follow the guidelines prescribed by the WHL and enroll to Entri to throw away all your tension and fear regarding the exam and lead a steady confident preparation with the help of entri. Keep studying Keep winning!