The 17th of May is the date chosen internationally to mark the “World Hypertension Day”. Hypertension or elevated blood pressure is the continuous force exerted by the blood on the walls of the arteries. As a result, cardiovascular diseases - such as myocardial infarction, strokes, heart failure - may also result - but also kidney failure, blindness, among other complications.
It is estimated that, in Angola, 20% of the adult population has high blood pressure. This disease is triggered silently, and represents the biggest risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases. It is more prevalent in females, and is mainly related to excessive salt consumption, smoking, alcoholism, physical inactivity and incorrect diet. Other triggering factors may be stress, genetic factors or the external environment. However, this chronic disease may be reversible with the adoption of a healthy lifestyle.
World Hypertension Day aims to raise public awareness of regular blood pressure monitoring and to disseminate the importance of its prevention, early diagnosis and timely treatment.
It is Tecnosaúde´s main goal to sensitize the Angolan population to the importance of regular measurement blood pressure, with special emphasis on cardiovascular risk groups - its ideal values are 120/80 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury, systolic blood pressure values and diastolic pressure, respectively, obtained through the use of a medical device for measuring blood pressure).