One in five adults in Bangladesh suffers from high blood pressure, cardiologists said in Dhaka Sunday. "High blood pressure is solely responsible for half of all heart diseases and over 60 percent of strokes," Sirajul Haque, secretary general of Hypertension Committee of the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh (HCNHFB), was quoted as saying by official news agency BSS. "In Bangladesh, the number of high blood pressure patients are around 15 million and most of them do not know about this health problem," Sirajul said, adding there is a lack of awareness about the disease among rural elderly.

He said, only 17 percent rural elderly know that they have been suffering from high blood pressure, a contrast to urban elderly people who were better health educated and around half of them were aware about it.

Chairman of HCNHFB Professor RK Khandaker also was quoted as saying, the detection and treatment of high blood pressure were inadequate in the country, but things could be controlled through popularizing the measurement of blood pressure at home.

The self-care at home can save many lives, especially for those whose disease remains asymptomatic, he said.

High blood pressure is attributed to consumption of more salts, intake of imbalanced food, lack of physical activity and mental stress. The disease can be prevented and controlled through public health measures.

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2008)