Journal of Hypertension: Open Access

Hypertension in adolescent children was very much ignored and not considered a major issue in the past but fortunately in the recent years, it has gradually become a source of concern especially as children are known to maintain and the predictor of their blood pressures into adulthood. In the year 2004, National High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group on High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents recommended a new designation of pre-hypertension for children with mildly elevated blood pressure. Epidemiological transition with increasing prevalence of Cardiac risk factors is evident in adults as well as in children. The foundations of Raised blood pressure in the adult are laid in child age and in adolescence period. The phenomenon of tracking or follow up of blood pressure directs that children and adolescents are in a raised blood pressure category tend to all in the same category when they become adults. Early diagnosis and management of prehypertension and hypertension in children and adolescent population will help in reducing the prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension with its complications in the nearby future adult population.

Hypertension (HTN) is an important public health problem in both economically developed and developing nations. As per NFHS-4 prevalence rates for hypertension in rural India is 9.8% in men and 6.5% in women, and in rural West Bengal it is 8.8% in men and 7.2% in women (In the Age group 15-49 years). Hypertension is thought to be less common in rural areas, though data is limited and estimates vary widely depending on the methodology used. Hence such, community based studies on hypertension has now become an utmost necessity to not only assess the prevalence of hypertension & its risk factors among adults, but also to plan preventive strategies & promote the health of population in the rural communities of Bengal. To estimate the prevalence of hypertension, and to identify the risk factors of hypertension in the population, a study among adults of the rural community of Singur Block, Hooghly District of West Bengal was conducted.

Method: It was a community based cross sectional study, where 300 adults from 120 randomly selected households from one of the randomly selected villages, under the service area of Rural Health Unit and Training Centre Singur were studied for 6 months.

Results: Using the JNC VII criteria, Out of 300 study population, 45% were found to be hypertensive with 54.8% male and 45.2% female. Significant association was found with age, tobacco and alcohol addiction, extra salt intake, low fruit consumption, positive family history, stress, low physical activity, BMI and abdominal obesity while association with marital status, religion, caste, SES, educational qualification and nature of work was insignificant.

Conclusions: The prevalence of hypertension was found to be on the higher side compared to some previous reports of India and other Asian studies. It is therefore necessary to create awareness among the study population regarding adoption of healthy lifestyle measures for control of blood pressure.

Hypertension has become a common word in day to day life .In today’s world 1.13 billion people have hypertension (2/3 living in low and middle income countries).Being a dentist it is important to have thorough knowledge about HBP to avoid complication, during dental treatment and post operatively.

Worldwide, raised blood pressure is estimated to cause 7.5 million deaths, about 12.8% of the total of all deaths. This accounts for 57 million disability adjusted life years (DALYS) or 3.7% of total DALYS. Variations in the levels of risk factors for hypertension, such as high sodium intake, low potassium intake, obesity, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet, may explain some of the regional heterogeneity in hypertension prevalence.

Non pharmacological approach in Hypertension management is gaining acceptance as the elevated blood pressure has emerged as a metabolic disorder affecting the masses with varied etiology. This includes diet, lifestyle modifications and different methods to boost mental health. Even though poor mental status as a cause of hypertension has not been fully established, deteriorating mental health has emerged as a co-morbidity in chronic hypertensive cases. Hence different psychological approaches like behavioral cognitive techniques, biofeedback, relaxation methods are being practiced extensively [1-4].

In this paper, we will focus on the non pharmacological remedies in Traditional Indian Medicine, Ayurveda with special reference to a treatment modality named Satvavajaya and how the same has established its effectiveness in Hypertension management.

Ayurveda, though its importance as a treatment method is widely accepted, is basically a way of living practiced over generations in India. There are three different treatment modalities mentioned- that is treatment through worship (Daivavyapashraya), through medicine and therapies (Yuktivyapashraya) and treating the mind through counseling (Satvavajaya) [5]. The third modality is gaining importance in the current scenario as the so emerged lifestyle disorders have an inevitable link with stressful ways of living.

This branch of treatment incorporates counseling a patient and correcting the thoughts, helps him to overcome fear and spiritual counseling. The same methods can be correlated to modern Psychotherapy techniques deployed. Therefore, this paper attempts to give a brief review on the various counseling techniques practiced among Ayurveda Physicians and to throw light to the code of conduct mentioned in the Ayurveda scriptures explaining how to live a life happy and healthy.