Practitioners Hold Symposium On Hypertension
PRESS RELEASE
February 23, 2007
About 250 internees, hospital residence and other specialties recently attended the one-day symposium on the killer-disease, Hypertension, organized by Westfield Pharmaceutical, Inc., one of the companies under the wing of InnoGen Pharma Group.
The occasion was held in cooperation with the
Philippine Hypertension Society
and the Philippine Lipid and Atherosclerosis Society at the
The resource person was Nelson S. Abelardo,
MD, Section Chief, associate professor at the University of the
Dr. Abelardo extensively discussed the subject “HYPERTENSION: A Practical Guide to Risk Stratification and Management”, upon which he spelled out guidelines on the killer-disease. Dr. Abelardo said: “More than a quarter of the world adult population is already hypertensive and this number is projected to increase to 29%, 1.56 billion, by 2025.”
He underscored that: “Arterial hypertension is an established risk factor for coronary artery disease and stroke. He also pointed out that decision to treat hypertension has been based on the level of blood pressure; and more recently, it has been suggested that management should be based on cardiovascular risk assessment.”
The speaker cited some risks including the person’s age; sex; family history of Coronary Artery Disease; level of physical activity, among other factors.
Dr. Abelardo added: “Arterial hypertension is a highly prevalent disease, and an important risk factor in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Assessment of hypertension includes presence of other risk factors, target organ damage and associated diseases. Lifestyle changes should be instituted even with patients diagnosed with pre-hypertension. Once diagnosed, hypertension should be treated aggressively to avoid its subsequent complications.”
Summing up his speech, Dr. Abelardo pointed out: “ACE inhibitors and calcium antagonists are as effective as conventional therapy with beta-blockers and diuretics in reducing BP in elderly hypertensive patients.
All three treatments are equally effective in reducing the incidence of cardiovascular (CV) events. Reduction of raised blood pressure (BP) is of major importance for the prevention of fatal or non-fatal cardiovascular events in elderly patients with hypertension