Over 50 per cent doctors suffer from hypertension: Study

New Delhi:  A recent study by the India Medical Association (IMA) revealed that over 50 per cent doctors were suffering from uncontrolled hypertension despite taking medicines, 56 per cent suffered from irregular BP at night and 21 per cent from masked hypertension. For the study, about 20,000 readings were taken of 533 doctors.

The study revealed that the incidence of hypertension is equally high amongst the medical fraternity, owing to high-stress levels.

The IMA claimed that as often hypertension is misdiagnosed given the difference in blood pressure readings at home and in a clinic, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) was used to get a more accurate picture of a person’s BP pattern in a span of 24 hour.

The study on ABMP measurement amongst doctors revealed that 21 per cent of the doctors surveyed had masked hypertension or isolated ambulatory hypertension. In simple terms, their BP readings were normal when evaluated through the conventional clinic measurement technique but high through the ABPM technique.

“In addition to this, 56 per cent of the doctors evaluated suffered from irregular BP pattern at night making them prone to future adverse cardiac events. 37 per cent doctors had nocturnal hypertension, which can never be diagnosed through in clinic BP measurement. Over 50 per cent physicians had uncontrolled hypertension despite taking hypertensive medicines,” said IMA president Dr K.K. Aggarwal.

The study was conducted by the India Medical Association in partnership with the Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) and Eris Lifesciences in the form of an unconditional educational grant attempted to record the maximum number of ambulatory blood pressure readings amongst the medical fraternity in a single day. Health experts claimed that though hypertension is preventable, it leads to 54 per cent chances of stroke, 50 per cent chances to have ischemic and other heart diseases.

“Other complications linked to it are hypertension heart disease, heart failure and retinal damage as well. Summing up all the risk factors makes hypertension the leading silent killer,” said senior consultant, internal medicine, Saroj Super Speciality Hospital, DrGreesh Manwani.

Experts advised that increasing your intake of fresh fruits, vegetables and switching to olive oil can help lower your high blood pressure levels.

“It is also a good idea to consume sprouted or 100 per cent whole grains or try to reduce your sodium intake, which does not necessarily come only from table salt or salt added while cooking. Processed and ultra-processed foods are the real culprits behind increased sodium intake,” said president of  Hypertension Society of India, Dr Shashank Joshi.