Doctors urge home BP monitoring for those with obesity, diabetes, or family history of heart disease

Cardiologists attribute the rise in high blood pressure among young individuals in India to sedentary lifestyles, obesity, chronic stress, and bad diets. High blood pressure was previously thought to be more common in middle-aged and older adults.
They cautioned that until major consequences like a heart attack, stroke, or kidney illness occur, many people are unaware of the issue.

According to the NFHS-6 (2023-24) data, 19.4% of women and 22.1% of men (aged over 15) in India have high blood pressure or are taking medication for it; rates are much higher in urban areas than in rural ones. One of the main issues, according to experts, is that high blood pressure seldom manifests signs until problems arise."The majority of young patients feel totally well. According to Dr. Rahul Chandola, chairman of the Institute of Heart Lungs Diseases Research Centre and creator of the AI-based healthcare technology platform iLive Connect, they frequently find increased blood pressure during a normal check-up, before surgery, or during a cardiac emergency.

"What matters is how blood pressure behaves over weeks and months in everyday life; a single reading in a hospital is just a snapshot," he stated. We may identify hidden hypertension, make early treatment adjustments, and avoid issues before they arise thanks to connected home monitoring devices that communicate readings directly with a doctor's team, according to Dr. Chandola

He advised folks to check their blood pressure at home, particularly if they had diabetes, obesity, or a family history of heart disease or hypertension. 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. Ten years ago, hypertension among individuals under 40 was very rare in normal cardiology practice, according to Dr. Rajiv Narang, chairman of the Department of Cardiology at AIIMS, Delhi. "Today, it is something we encounter almost every day," he replied.

Many young professionals eat a lot of processed foods, sleep badly, spend a lot of time sitting down, and experience ongoing stress. According to Dr. Narang, "all of these factors are accelerating vascular aging much earlier than expected."A common misconception is that hypertension is an age-related condition. That notion must be dispelled. Blood pressure should be checked on a regular basis, just like blood sugar or body weight. Decades of cardiovascular problems can be avoided with early diagnosis and long-term lifestyle modifications, he said.

According to Dr. Narender Singh Jhajhria, Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS) at Dr. RML Hospital and ABVIMS, regular physical activity of at least 150 minutes per 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.

Researchers are looking into low-sodium salt alternatives as a way to lower hypertension and cardiovascular disease because an ongoing ICMR-led initiative has discovered that average salt intake in both urban and rural populations exceeds the World Health Organization's recommended limit of five grams per day, according to Dr. Jhajhria. Experts emphasized that early detection and management of hypertension could avoid thousands of heart attacks, strokes, and instances of chronic renal disease annually, as cardiovascular diseases continue to be India's major cause of death. A common misconception is that hypertension is an age-related condition. That notion must be dispelled. According to Dr. Jhajhria, blood pressure should be regularly checked, much like body weight or blood sugar.