RIYADH, 23 October — More than 25 percent of the adult population of Saudi Arabia is suffering from hypertension, known as the silent killer disease that damages the heart, kidneys and brain.
The risk factors of hypertension in the Kingdom are directly linked to the family history of patients, age, diseases from which the patient is suffering, sedentary life style and smoking.
This was the warning given at a symposium on "Stroke in Saudi Arabia", which opened yesterday at the Marriot Hotel. Professor Gareth Beevers of the University of Birmingham and Dr. Waleed Khoja of Riyadh Al Kharj Hospital were keynote speakers. The event, organized by the MSD Pharmaceutical company, was chaired by Dr. Abdul Kader Allam, professor of internal medicine & cardiology at King Khalid University Hospital.
The symposium, which attracted senior doctors and health care decision-makers from across the Kingdom heard that patients with hypertension which is the main cause of stroke, could receive a treatment that has been shown to reduce the relative risk of stroke by 25 percent more than the standard blood pressure medicine. This is based on a ground-breaking research called the famous LIFE study published in prestigious medical journals recently.
"The findings of this study on stroke and hypertension signaled a new era in terms of the treatment of patients with high blood pressure", said Dr. Khoja, adding that the number of patients suffering from hypertension has been growing in Saudi Arabia.
Health experts attending the conference said that hypertensive people are many times more likely to suffer from stroke, heart failure and heart attack.
Referring to the new findings, Merck Sharp & Dohme company said in a statement that the new study on hypertension has demonstrated that physicians have a highly-effective weapon to combat this disease and improve patients’ quality of life.
