Hypertension of the Filipinos

Here are the Top Facts on Hypertension for Filipinos. The information from the Philippine Heart Association.

• Two out of 10 Filipinos suffer from hypertension. Thirty percent of them are unaware that they have the condition, because almost half of hypertensive people don't feel anything.
• If your blood pressure is 140/90, you may be hypertensive.
• Women with 31-inch waistlines are at risk of becoming hypertensive. (For men, it's 35 inches.)
• Genes play a small part in determining whether a person is susceptible to the condition, says Eugenio Reyes, M.D., co-chair of the research and scientific committees of the Philippine Heart Association. It's more the interaction of genetic predisposition and lifestyle. If you have the genes but have a healthy lifestyle, you may not get it. But if you don't have the genes and live unhealthily, you can get it."
• Even children should have their blood pressure (BP) checked, especially now that a growing number of adolescents have high BP. If you don't know what your BP is, have yourself checked, and have the test repeated at least once a year