Hypertension no longer confined to old age; experts urge early BP screening

New Delhi (PTI): Young adults in India are increasingly developing high blood pressure, a condition once considered more prevalent in the middle and old ages, with cardiologists attributing the trend to sedentary lifestyles, obesity, chronic stress and unhealthy diets.

They warned that many remain unaware of the problem until serious complications such as a heart attack, stroke or kidney disease occur.

The NFHS-6 (2023-24) data shows that 19.4 per cent of women and 22.1 per cent of men (aged over 15) have elevated blood pressure or are on medication for hypertension in India, with urban areas reporting significantly higher rates than rural regions.

Experts said one of the biggest concerns is that high blood pressure rarely causes symptoms until complications develop.

"Most young patients feel completely healthy. They often discover elevated blood pressure during a routine check-up, before surgery, or after a cardiac emergency," said Dr Rahul Chandola, chairman of the Institute of Heart Lungs Diseases Research Centre and founder of AI-based healthcare technology platform iLive Connect.

A single reading in a hospital is just a snapshot; what matters is how blood pressure behaves over weeks and months in daily life, he said.

"Connected home monitoring devices that share readings directly with a doctor's team allow us to catch masked hypertension, adjust treatment early, and prevent complications before they occur," Dr Chandola said.

He said adults, especially those with obesity, diabetes, a family history of hypertension or heart disease, should monitor their blood pressure at home using validated digital devices.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-INDIAB study has shown that hypertension affects more than one in four Indian adults, with a large proportion of cases remaining undiagnosed. The study identified obesity, diabetes, urban living, physical inactivity and excessive salt intake as major risk factors.

Dr Rajiv Narang, head of the Department of Cardiology at AIIMS, Delhi, said that 10 years ago, hypertension in people below 40 was relatively uncommon in routine cardiology practice. "Today, it is something we encounter almost every day," he said.

Many young professionals have prolonged sitting hours, consume highly processed foods, sleep poorly and remain under constant stress.

"These factors together are accelerating vascular ageing much earlier than expected," Dr Narang said.

"People often believe hypertension is an illness of old age. That misconception needs to change. Blood pressure should become as routinely monitored as body weight or blood sugar. Early diagnosis and sustained lifestyle changes can prevent decades of cardiovascular complications," he said.

Dr Chandola highlighted that untreated hypertension silently damages the arteries supplying the heart, brain and kidneys, substantially increasing the risk of premature cardiovascular disease.

The doctors stressed that lifestyle modification remains the cornerstone of preventing hypertension, particularly among younger adults.

Regular physical activity of at least 150 minutes every week, maintaining a healthy body weight, reducing dietary salt, increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, avoiding tobacco, limiting alcohol intake, managing stress and ensuring adequate sleep can significantly reduce blood pressure and lower long-term cardiovascular risk, Dr Narender Singh Jhajhria, Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS) at Dr RML Hospital and ABVIMS said.

He also pointed to the growing evidence linking excessive salt consumption with hypertension in India.

An ongoing ICMR-led initiative has found that average salt intake in both urban and rural populations exceeds the World Health Organisation's recommended limit of five grams per day, prompting researchers to evaluate low-sodium salt substitutes as a strategy to reduce hypertension and cardiovascular disease, Dr Jhajhria said.

With cardiovascular diseases remaining the leading cause of death in India, experts stressed that detecting and controlling hypertension early could prevent thousands of heart attacks, strokes and cases of chronic kidney disease every year.

"People often believe hypertension is an illness of old age. That misconception needs to change. Blood pressure should become as routinely monitored as body weight or blood sugar," Dr Jhajhria said.