High Blood Pressure is a Big Deal
Australia’s obesity epidemic is undermining expert attempts to reduce cardiovascular disease – one of the leading causes of death nationwide.
Researchers at the Dobney Hypertension Centre (a joint venture between the RPH Research Foundation, Royal Perth Hospital and The University of Western Australia) said cardiovascular disease currently accounts for about 27 per cent of deaths in Australia each year and rising obesity rates were putting more people at risk.
Head of the Dobney Hypertension Centre, Professor Markus Schlaich said being overweight or obese could cause high blood pressure (hypertension) in some people and worsen it in those who already have the condition.
“Studies have already shown a correlation between weight gain and blood pressure,” Professor Schlaich said.
“This is very concerning when you consider that it is projected that 75 percent of women and 83 per cent of men, who live in industrialised countries like Australia and the USA, will be obese by 2025. Plus, statistics indicate that 60 to 70 percent of hypertension diagnoses may be directly attributable to obesity.”
Almost a third of Australians currently have high blood pressure, but only half of them are aware of it.
Lead researcher Dr Revathy Carnagarin said more research was needed to better understand how to treat high blood pressure in obese patients because many of the current approaches don’t address the unique complications caused by being both overweight and hypertensive.
“Obesity-related hypertension (OHT) is a complex disorder and current hypertension guidelines do not provide specific recommendations for treating it,” Dr Carnagarin said.
“Some medications have even been shown to be less effective in obese patients. As such, combinations of various pharmacologic, blood pressure lowering approaches are particularly required in the management of obesity-related hypertension.”
Dr Carnagarin said obesity can trigger a complex chain of events in the human body that elevate blood pressure. They include obstructive sleep apnea, impaired kidney function, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance and increased sodium sensitivity and reabsorption.
While weight loss and exercise are still at the forefront of tackling obesity and obesity-related hypertension, Dr Carnagarin said they did not always produce the desired results. In addition, most patients fail to implement and sustain the appropriate lifestyle changes long term.
“The difficulties in achieving long-term weight loss with lifestyle measures and the variable blood pressure responses to weight loss ultimately necessitates blood pressure lowering drug therapy,” Dr Carnagarin said.
