Kwento Ni Toto: Hypertension

2021/06/26

The Philippine Heart Association Raises The Alarm With Hypertension

Toto 6/26/2021 12:39:00 AM

The Philippine Heart Association or PHA presented their conducted research on the prevalence of hypertension among Filipinos. Based on the result of the survey and the figure, it is very alarming. According to them, among the 111 million Filipinos there are 37% of the adults and 4% of the 12-18-year-old age group are hypertensive.

Last June 16, 2021, an online Press Conference was held via zoom to present the 2021 Nationwide Hypertension Survey Results through the organization's "PRESYON 4," the acronym for Philippine Heart Association-Council on Hypertension Report on Study of Hypertension. The background of the report clearly describes that Hypertension in the Philippines has increased in the last two decades, and hypertension-related stroke was the most common cause of mortality.

According to the presentation of Dr. Jorge Sison, Past President of the Philippine Heart Association, Cardiovascular diseases are the biggest pandemic that needs to be addressed aside from the current COVID-19 pandemic. With the number of 17.5 million people who die per year, it is very alarming, it includes heart attacks and strokes. One billion people are at risk for Cardiovascular Diseases because 1.5 billion people today are prone to suffer hypertension.

It is alarming that the number of individuals having hypertension is getting younger and younger each year, the worse part is that the age bracken of these individuals is getting younger.

"We have two pandemics on hand, and this is the bigger pandemic. It's not just about talking of a seasonal pandemic, but this is all year round...," shared by Dr. Jorge Sison.

After listening to the presentation and the question and answer, I learned that I should be more disciplined in taking care of my body and be more mindful of my maintenance medicines. Yes, I also have hypertension from the genes of my father's side. With the PRESYON 4, I was able to associate three words that people can ponder as well. These are Awareness, Treatment, and Implementation.

Awareness - We should be aware that this is a silent disease, that is why we should be conscious of what we eat and of our lifestyle. In any case that we felt differently, a short visit to your doctors would be great.

Treatment - If ever we are diagnosed with hypertension, the best treatments are changing our lifestyle, and taking the prescribed medicines. It's not easy, but it's doable.

Implementation - This is probably one of the many failures that we have, the implementation part. We're aware and have been treated but implementing the lifestyle and medicinal routine, we fail on this part. Maybe we should not think about it as a chore but as a part of us.

If you want to know more about hypertension and the program of PHA, you can visit their website https://www.philheart.org/. You can check out their programs and some tips on how to keep yourself healthy.