Hypertension

Hypertension or high blood pressure is known as the “silent killer”. This is because in most individuals, hypertension causes no symptoms. Unfortunately, in many patients, the first time hypertension is diagnosed is when they suffer their first stroke or first heart attack. 

Hypertension is a major contributor to the development of cardiovascular disease (stroke, heart attack, coronary artery disease death, heart failure and sudden cardiac death) and affects almost 25% of the Singapore population. The prevalence of hypertension increases with age such that more than half of all people older than 65 years have a blood pressure of > 140/90mmHg. 

The prevalence, the fact that the attributable risk of stroke due to hypertension is > 60% and that of heart attack approximately 40-50%, and that treating hypertension can prevent or postpone cardiovascular eventshas led to high blood pressuretreatment becoming a major focus of primary and secondary cardiovascular disease prevention. Hypertension is now one of the most common conditions treated in primary care in Singapore.

Hence, blood pressure screening either in the primary care setting or as part of mass public health screening would prevent many individuals from developing the potentially devastating cardiovascular complications of hypertension.

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Cardiovascular Screening

Cardiovascular disease which includes both heart attack and stroke is the second leading cause of death in Singapore, after cancer.Approximately 2000 people in Singapore suffer a heart attackevery year. Furthermore, due to the earlier adoption of unhealthy lifestyle habits, heart disease is occurring at a younger age. Nowadays, it is not unusual to see patients as young as 40 present with heart disease. Similarly, we are beginning to see more women with heart disease nowadays. This is largely due to the increased prevalence of smoking and diabetes among women. In the US, heart disease kills 6 times as many women as breast cancer Sudden Cardiac Death Treatment

As with all things in life, prevention is always better than cure.Cardiovascular screening may help identify high risk individuals who may benefit from aggressive preventative strategies. Nowadays, we have at our disposal highly sensitive diagnostic tools such as carotid ultrasound, coronary calcium scanning and CT coronary angiogram (coronary CTA) which allow us to identify early cholesterol deposits in the arteries of the brainand heart.

Individuals who may benefit from cardiovascular screening include:

1)      Men (>/= age 40) and women (>/= age 50) with at least one of the following risk factors - - High blood pressure.

- High cholesterol. 

- Diabetes.

- Smoking.

- Obesity.

- Family history of heart disease.

Individuals who want to participate in strenuous sports (e.g triathlon, marathon, etc.). 

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