One-Third of Americans Have Hypertension

(February 23, 2010) - Nearly one-third of U.S. adults have high blood pressure (Read about "Hypertension: High Blood Pressure"), and it accounts for about one in six adult deaths annually. That's a 25 percent increase over a ten-year period. Those are the sobering statistics from a new Institute of Medicine (IOM) report.

Roughly three-quarters of Americans recognize the importance of having their blood pressure checked, but this awareness has not translated into sustained reductions in the condition.

Given that many individuals with high blood pressure have not been diagnosed and the majority of patients with hypertension do not have it under control, the report also calls on public health and medical officials to explore ways to improve health care providers' adherence to treatment guidelines.

"Although hypertension is relatively easy to prevent, simple to diagnose, and relatively inexpensive to treat, it remains the second leading cause of death among Americans, and as such should rightly be called a neglected disease," said committee chair David Fleming.

The committee's review of the science points to heavy weight, inactivity, and unhealthy diets containing too much salt and too little potassium as the major risk factors for high blood pressure. (Read about "Obesity" "Getting Started on Fitness" "Dietary Guidelines" "Sodium")

Based on available data, the committee estimated that hypertension prevalence might be reduced by as much as 22 percent if Americans consumed less salt in their diet and ate more vegetables, fruit and lean protein. A recent study calculated that reducing salt intake from 3,400 milligrams to the currently advised maximum intake level of 2,300 milligrams per day could bring down the number of individuals with high blood pressure by about 11.1 million and result in approximately $17.8 billion in health care cost savings annually. The committee also estimated that an initiative to help overweight and obese Americans each lose 10 pounds (Read about "Losing Weight") could reduce the prevalence of high blood pressure in the overall population by 7 percent to 8 percent. An exercise program that gets physically inactive people more active could decrease prevalence by 4 percent to 6 percent.