Staying away from hypertension

September 3, 2019 Educator's Corner

Hypertension excuses no one, if left untreated it may lead to other complications that may lead to sudden death. In the teaching profession, teachers are always exposed to stress regardless of what level they teach. Dr. Rafael Castillo, a cardiologist at the Manila Doctors’ Hospital said that Filipinos with hypertension are not aware of their condition until they begin to suffer illnesses that have associated complication with hypertension.
Hypertension does not kill, but the complications are the ones that disable and kill hypertensive individuals.
According to Doctor Linda Lim-Varona, hypertension if left untreated may lead to stroke, blindness, heart attack, heart failure, and kidney failure. Hypertension is considered as the biggest single risk factor for deaths worldwide. In the report stated by the World Health Organization (WHO), hypertension causes 7 million deaths every year while 1.5 billion people suffer due to its complications.
In the 2013 report of the World Health Organization, the prevalence rate of hypertension is around 30%-45%. The incidence of hypertension is alarmingly increasing in developing countries and the occurrence rate is two times higher than developed countries.
It is considered to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular mortality and morbidity as it doubles the risk of coronary heart disease including acute myocardial infarction, and triples the risk of congestive heart failure as well as stroke mentioned by WHO.
In the 2017 data of World Health Organization, hypertension deaths in the Philippines reached 14,751 or 2.38% of total deaths.
Philippines ranked 44thin the world with age adjusted death rate of 23.56 per 100,000 of population.
Therefore it is important to live a healthy lifestyle because nobody is excused from hypertension. Teachers should avoid vices like smoking, drinking too much alcohol and improper diet intake. A very good strategic plan that they should do is to have a regular exercise, good eating habits and self-discipline in combating personal wants that may contribute in unhealthy lifestyle.
 
Johnson Botengan
Pines City National High School