Materia Medica Malaysiana

3 million young M’sians suffer from hypertension

A staggering three million Malaysians, mostly young men, have become victims of hypertension — all due to their unhealthy lifestyle and eating habits.
And Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek has described it as “a major disease but badly controlled”.
This, he said, was due a lack of commitment by people to get proper medication.
He pointed out that young adults were now dying prematurely or and becoming disabled because of the silent killer.
If preventive measures were not put in place the figure would double in 30 years, with the disease killing many young people, Chua said.
He added that said studies had revealed that 30 per cent of Malaysian adults above the age of 30 were now possibly hypertensive.
“We believe that 53 per cent of them are were possibly undiagnosed and unaware of their disease,” he said after opening the second scientific meeting of the Malaysian Society of Hypertension themed ‘Confronting Hypertension: An Integrated Approach” at the KL Hilton.
“Our study also indicated a higher prevalence of possible hypertension in the rural population, especially among women aged 50 years and above.”
He added said, adding that two-thirds of known hypertensive sought treatment at utilised government health facilities.
“There is a need for us to intensify our educational interventions, not only among patients in the clinics and hospitals, but also out there in the community.
“We also need to more vigorously promote the adoption of a healthy lifestyle.”
In Malaysia more than 10,000 die annually due to various diseases linked to hypertension, like strokes, heart attacks and renal failure.