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| |  Half-Billion People With High Blood Pressure At Risk Of Heart Disease FUKUOKA, JAPAN -- Oct. 8, 1998 -- More than half a billion people world-wide with high blood pressure may be at risk of developing worsening heart disease, including heart attacks, stroke and death unless adequately treated for hypertension (high blood pressure) nearly 60 world-wide experts discussed at a summit meeting. Hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) and the Japanese Society of Hypertension, hypertension specialists from around the world discussed new guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of this life-long disease during a three-day meeting. Hypertension can be controlled, but may have serious consequences if not treated adequately, the experts said. "An estimated 600 million people have high blood pressure today, a number which is growing rapidly, but only 75 million are receiving adequate treatment,” said Dr. Ingrid Martin, head of the cardiovascular diseases unit of WHO. "This enormous treatment gap in hypertension, a silent killer, is adding significantly to the global burden and cost of treating heart disease. It impacts substantially on the quality of life of so many people," said Karl-Heinz Rahn, president of ISH, and professor of medicine, University of Munster, Munster, Germany. "We are developing new Hypertension Guidelines to help physicians everywhere reduce the cardiovascular risk associated with high blood pressure," said professor John Chalmers, chairman, WHO-ISH hypertension guidelines liaison committee, and chairman of the scientific council on hypertension, World Heart Federation, Sydney, Australia. "Along with Hypertension Guidelines for hypertension specialists, we are also developing Guidelines for primary care physicians for the first time.” Hypertension experts at the summit meeting came from all over the world, representing 23 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Scotland, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The new WHO-ISH Hypertension Guidelines are expected to be submitted for publication at the end of the year.
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