Medication ‘may be weapon’ in China’s looming battle against obesity-linked high blood pressure
Researchers say the country should prepare now for a predicted rise in rates of hypertension
China should consider wider use of medication to counter an expected rise in high blood pressure rates stemming from obesity, said researchers involved in a landmark national study.
The researchers said the obesity rate in China was projected to more than double by 2025, compared with 2010 levels, putting more pressure on the country’s health system.
Scientists from China’s National Centre for Cardiovascular Diseases and Yale University in the United States analysed health data from 1.7 million Chinese people aged 35 to 80 and found a strong correlation between the degree of obesity and high blood pressure.
Third of adults in China suffer high blood pressure, study suggests
They also projected the prevalence of obesity would more than triple in men – from 4.0 to 12.3 per cent – and more than double in women – from 5.2 to 10.8 per cent – by 2025, compared with 2010.
The results were published in the American medical journal JAMA Network Open on Friday.
“With the obesity rate set to increase, China’s public health system faces greater pressure to diagnose and treat patients with high blood pressure,” said Lu Jiapeng, a cardiologist at the national centre and a co-author of the study.
“One solution – besides weight loss – is to expand the use of hypertension drugs, which have proved to be effective in mitigating high blood pressure.”
The medications were rarely prescribed in China but widely and successfully used in the United States, the study said.