High Blood Pressure, or hypertension, was the subject of focus at the second edition of Jipmer’s public awareness campaign, ‘Health Education for All’ organised on Tuesday.
The ongoing series of interactive sessions focuses on building knowledge among the public, patients and care-givers on prevention and treatment of common illnesses, and is expected to improve public awareness on health and diseases.
The sessions are conducted in Tamil on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. There is no prior registration or registration fee for participation, and the sessions are open to all.
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On Tuesday, a team of experts led a session on ‘Hypertension (High B.P.): What Do You Need To Know?’
Dr. Santhosh Satheesh from Department of Cardiology, Dr. Venkateswaran from Department of General Medicine and Dr. Venkatachalam J. from Department of Preventive & Social Medicine participated in the panel discussion that dwelt on various issues such as risk factors, diagnosis, treatment, diet and complications of hypertension.
Around 300 participants from the general public attended the event.
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Questions raised by the participants regarding hypertension and its management were clarified.
Hypertension, if uncontrolled or undetected can lead to many complications, damaging the heart, brain, eyes, and kidneys.
The audience got to learn that hypertension can be managed using medications, regular physical activity and dietary modifications.
These facts and some general information regarding risk factors for hypertension such as heredity, unhealthy diet, obesity, lack of physical activity, misconceptions among the public regarding treatment and need for lifelong treatment were shared with the participants during the panel discussion.
During the session, it was also brought to the knowledge of participants that a lot of people lack awareness about hypertension and report late to health facilities with complications of hypertension.
It was also emphasised that the role of patients and their care givers were more important than the treatment by doctors to prevent complications.
The do’s and don’ts regarding diet were also discussed.
The public awareness campaign, under the “Jipmer Health Education Initiative” was launched by Jipmer Director Prof. S.C. Parija, to improve public awareness on health and disease.