The Chinese capital reported the highest incidence of hypertension in the country, or 25 percent, among residents at and above 45 years old, a latest survey by the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau said.

The incidence of hypertension, or high blood pressure, among residents at and above 45 years old in the city has exceeded 50 percent, the survey said.

October 8 is the "Day of Hypertension" in China, which was established by the Ministry of Health in 1988 to improve public's awareness of the danger of the disease.

Despite the prevalence of high blood pressure in Beijing, quite a few patients were not aware, nor did they know how to control the blood pressure by taking medicine properly and regularly, said Wang Yongjun, a specialist on neuroscience at the Tiantan Hospital in Beijing.

According to another survey by the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, more than half of the Beijing citizens sampled said they did not know they had high blood pressure.

Among the other half who had learned their disease, only 35.6 percent took regular medicine for treatment, while only 7.6 percent could brought their disease into control, the survey said.

Wang attributed the high incidence of hypertension to inappropriate diet and living style.

Statistics show that Beijing citizens eat 12.4 grams of salt on average daily, more than double that recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), and they also intake an average of 412.5 milligrams of cholesterin from food each day, exceeding 300 milligrams, a level recommended by WHO.

Wang suggested that citizens participate in more sports activities, have more exercises and check their blood pressure regularly, especially for the group of people between 40 to 60 years old, which reported a relatively higher incidence of the disease.

(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2005)