What is Hypertension?

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a phenomenon in which the pressure on the blood vessel wall caused by blood flowing in the blood vessels is continuously higher than normal. Hypertension is often called a "silent killer". Most patients can develop the disease without any symptoms, and the blood vessel wall is subjected to a pressure higher than normal for a long time, which can lead to serious diseases such as coronary heart disease and stroke.

The definition of hypertension is that without the use of antihypertensive drugs, there are 3 times when the clinic blood pressure values are higher than normal, that is, the clinic systolic blood pressure (commonly known as high pressure) ≥140mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure (commonly known as low pressure) ≥90mmHg, and these 3 blood pressure measurements are not conducted on the same day. The "Clinical Practice Guidelines for Hypertension" issued in November 2022 recommends that the diagnostic threshold for hypertension in adults in China be lowered to systolic blood pressure ≥130mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥80mmHg.

Incidence of Hypertension

According to the latest data, the prevalence of hypertension is relatively high worldwide, posing a major threat to human health.

1、Number of patients with hypertension worldwide

According to the Global Hypertension Report released by WHO, the number of patients with hypertension (blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher or taking hypertension medication) doubled from 650 million to 1.3 billion between 1990 and 2019.

2、Global impact of hypertension

Hypertension affects one-third of adults worldwide. Data from 2019 showed that among adults aged 30 to 79, the number of people with hypertension in the Eastern Mediterranean region was approximately 99 million, 346 million in the Western Pacific region, 106 million in Africa, 197 million in the Americas, 230 million in Europe, and 294 million in Southeast Asia.

3、Diagnosis and treatment

Among hypertensive patients aged 30 to 79, only 54% were diagnosed with hypertension, 42% received hypertension treatment, and 21% were under control. This means that nearly half of patients with hypertension are unaware of their condition, and about 80% fail to receive adequate treatment.

Classification of Disease

- Systolic blood pressure of 130~139mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure of 80~89mmHg is grade 1 hypertension;

- Systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥90mmHg is grade 2 hypertension.

In addition, it can also be divided into isolated systolic hypertension and isolated diastolic hypertension.

- Isolated systolic hypertension is systolic blood pressure higher than 140mmHg, but diastolic blood pressure is normal (lower than 90 mmHg);

- Isolated diastolic hypertension is systolic blood pressure normal (lower than 140 mmHg), but diastolic blood pressure higher than 90 mmHg.

Hypertension is not only found in the elderly population. According to different disease groups, it can be divided into childhood and adolescent hypertension, pregnancy hypertension, middle-aged and young hypertension, and elderly hypertension.