Karachi: The number of patients suffering from hypertension in Pakistan is increasing rapidly nowadays, renowned cardiologist and Pakistan Hypertension League General Secretary of Prof Mohammad Ishaq said Monday.
He was speaking as a chief guest at a seminar held at the Arag Auditorium, Dow University of Health Sciences, on the eve of World Hypertension Day.
DUHS Registrar Prof Dr Amanullah Abbasi, CHK Medical Superintendent Dr Muhammed Taufiq, Dr Nawaz Lashari, Prof Mansoor Ahmed, Dr Ghulam Abbas and others also shared their views regarding the topic with the audience.
“We are fortunate that 65 percent of our population consists of youth but, on the other hand, our environment, habits and our life style is actively promoting the rate of high blood pressure and there are more chances that this rate will keep on increasing if the situation persists,” said Prof Ishaq.
Prof Dr Amanullah Abbasi said, “Our daily lives are associated with continuous stress and there are no physical activities. This is the core reason hypertension is increasing at an alarming rate. Without any endeavours to reduce obesity by controlling our eating habits, we will not be able to reduce the rate of increasing hypertension.”
Dr Nawaz Lashari, director of Cardiology Department Dr Ruth Pfao, said that the rate of hypertension was increasing due to obesity in US. “Around 50 million patients are suffering from hypertension in US while the number stands at 1 billion worldwide.”
Published in Daily Times, May 15th 2018.