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Subject Area

Clinical Pharmacology

Article Type

Letter to the Editor

Abstract

I read with great interest the article by Kamal and Hassan, treatment of resistant hypertension [1]. It was a marvelously informative article. Many medical conditions that were life‑threatening in the past, nowadays, thanks to research, are treatable, either by lifestyle changes and/or medications. Cardiovascular health is something all need to be aware of, and should make efforts to minimize the risk factors over which they can have some control.

We can classify cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors into two groups: nonmodifiable and modifiable risk factors. The nonmodifiable such as sex, age, ethnicity, and family history of CVD, like the name, cannot be modified. So the prevention programs in this risk‑factor group are mostly in raising awareness of people with these risk factors. The modifiable ones, such as unhealthy eating habits, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, and high‑salt intake are the ones that can be the target of nonpharmacological therapy such as lifestyle changes. Smoking on average reduces the life expectancy of an individual by almost 10 years and also has multiple effects on our physiology that contribute to CVD [2]. In addition, medical therapy can also be prescribed to reduce the risks. Nevertheless, health education and promotion are vital for both the risk‑factor groups.

People have a greater chance of developing hypertension when a cardiovascular risk is present in them. Blood‑pressure measure must be monitored regularly for the right values for systolic and diastolic pressures. Low‑salt diet, fruits, veggies, and little or no oil and absolute no to smoking will help bring down the blood pressure. Blood‑pressure control would lead to lower chances of forming an atheroma, so less chance of developing atherosclerosis, therefore, even lesser chances of having a stroke, myocardial infarction, or deep‑vein thrombosis.

I advocate the following measures in continuation to those already been addressed in the article:

  1. People with genetic CVD must follow a healthy diet pattern.
  2. People, especially belonging to the age group of 65 and above, must have exercise and diet balance for a healthy living [3].
  3. Tools such as QRISK factor and other computer programs should be used by physicians to identify cardiovascular risks in routine outpatients [4].
  4. There should be a mandate on regular public health education and promotion activities on avoiding saturated fats, stress, and smoking.

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