Physical Activity and Blood Pressure

Question 1: Which disease is the single biggest killer in India in the age group of 50-69?

A. Hypertension

B. Tuberculosis

C. Cancer

D. Malaria

The answer is A. Hypertension or high blood pressure (Fig. 1) is the single biggest killer in India. In 2019, approximately 570,000 people died due to hypertension, amounting to 19.8% of all deaths in this age group. Across all age groups, the number of deaths attributable to hypertension was 1.35 million or 13.5 lakhs, accounting for 14.37% of all deaths.

Fig. 1: A comparative chart of causes of death in the 50-69 age group in India

Hypertension is elevated blood pressure. The systolic (upper) or the diastolic (lower) or both values can be high. Both should be normal. The accepted cut-offs for a long time were values greater than 140 systolic and 90 diastolic [1], but the definition of hypertension was changed to values above 130 systolic and/or 80 diastolic in 2017 by ACC/AHA [2]. Many studies have shown that the lower the blood pressure, the longer people live disease free [3].

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