About 40.8 per cent of UAE nationals in the age group of 35-70 years suffer from hypertension or high blood pressure, according to a recent survey conducted by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA).

Hypertension is the leading cause of fatal complications like stroke, heart failure, cardiovascular diseases and kidney failure.

To create awareness on early detection of the disease and find solutions to the challenges of hypertension treatment, Swiss-based Novartis, a top healthcare solutions provider, brought together six leading UAE and global doctors as a part of its symposium called “25 years in Hypertension”.

The two-day symposium held in Dubai and Abu Dhabi is a part of Novartis’ 25 years of commitment to controlling hypertension and highlighting it as the key risk factor causing cardiovascular diseases.

“High blood pressure or hypertension can go undetected for years because patients do not face visible symptoms. It can only be detected through regular blood pressure monitoring. Prolonged undetected hypertension causes organ damage,” said Dr Wael Al Mahmeed- consultant cardiologist, president of Gulf Heart Association.

Over two-days of dedicated discussions saw the experts share the latest practices in hypertension treatment and share information on the latest research being undertaken to improve patient care.

They highlighted that the sedentary lifestyle of people in UAE, combined with widespread consumption of junk food, obesity and diabetes are the factors leading to hypertension.

“If we want to reduce Heart attacks, strokes, heart failures and deaths, we need to control blood pressure,” said Dr Afzalhussein Yusufali- consultant cardiologist at DHA.

“In our study in UAE nationals, only 26 per cent of those treated were controlled. There are several methods which can be used to control blood pressure effectively, one of them is to use a single pill combination (SPM) to make it convenient for the patient,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service