RESEARCH that will ensure accurate treatment of high blood pressure in black African people is nearing completion and its results will be announced in March next year, professor of preventive cardiovascular medicine at Imperial College London, Neil Poulter, said this week.
Poulter, who is co-director at the International Centre for Circulatory Health, and director at the Imperial Clinical Trials Unit at the institution, was speaking on the fringes of the 34th World Congress of Internal Medicine held in Cape Town where he painted a grim picture of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, being the biggest killer in the world.
However, until now, only treatment for the white population has been backed up by scientific research with the black, Indian and Chinese populations excluded, Poulter said.
“Nothing kills as effectively as raised blood pressure,” he said.
In his presentation, Poulter said trials were being completed on the correct combination of medications to be used to treat high blood pressure in black people.
The director of the Hypertension Clinic at Groote Schuur Hospital, Brian Rayner, said all along, research has been focused on communicable diseases.
“The focus has been on infectious diseases (HIV, malaria and TB) and as a result funding is not forthcoming to conduct clinical trials,” he said.
He said it was true that trials were conducted for the white population only.
At least one in three adults in South Africa have high blood pressure and those who do have it, are not aware of their condition, the conference
heard.
Rayner said high blood pressure could be prevented by living a healthy lifestyle including exercise; reduced alcohol, salt, sugar, and saturated fat intake and increase fruit and vegetables.
“Avoid obesity, no smoking, and no illicit drugs like tik or amphetamines.
“This must start from childhood and parents need to act responsibly,” he said.
For those already diagnosed with the condition, Rayner advised: “Lifestyle changes and adherence to medication prescribed by your doctor.
“Make sure your BP is less than 140/90 and perhaps invest in home BP monitoring to assist your doctor in keeping your BP controlled,” he said.