Hypertension in Britain

285 Words1 Page

Hypertension is one of the commonest chronic diseases in British primary care . It is also a major risk contributor for coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease for example stroke and myocardial infarction. , Hypertension is also a global health problem affecting people of different ethnicity and ages around the world. The UK population which consists of varies ethnic groups for example Caucasians, Afro-Caribbean, Asians and many more might illustrated the problem. Hypertension is usually asymptomatic .The higher the blood pressure measurement, the greater the risk. Therefore screening for it is very vital to avoid secondary complication of the disease.

High blood pressure is defined as having blood pressure above than 140/90 each time the measurement is taken. In other word is called sustained blood pressure. Unfortunately it is not as simple as that to consider a person to have hypertension. This is because the level of blood pressure can vary from person to person. This condition happened due to the presence of various risk factor and contributor that can promote hypertension including, genetic, alcohol intake, level of cholesterol, obesity, lifestyle and organ damage. Therefore, blood pressure has a skewed normal distribution within the population and the risk is continuously related to it.

The British Hypertension Society (BHS) and National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) have provided national guideline and recommendations for primary care to manage hypertension in community. This audit is going to look at the management and treatment of hypertension in the community practice by referring to latest BHS and NICE guideline for hypertension.

Works Cited

1 Lane DA and Lip GYH. Ethnic differences in hypertension and blood pressure control in the UK. Q J Med 2001; 94: 391-396© 2001 Association of Physicians. Available from: http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/94/7/391

2 Standing P; Deakin H; Norman P; Standing R. Hypertension: Its Detection, Prevalence, Control and Treatment in a Quality Driven British General Practice. Br J Cardiol. 2005;12(6):471-476. © 2005 Medinews (Cardiology) Limited. Available from: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/521162

3 Underwood P, Beck P. UK Secondary prevention following myocardial infarction: evidence from an audit in South Wales that the National Service Framework for coronary heart disease does not address all the issues.

More about Hypertension in Britain

Open Document