High blood pressure is one of the world’s biggest hidden health threats.
It often causes no warning signs, but over time it can damage blood vessels and place extra strain on the heart, raising the risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and other serious problems.
The condition, also called hypertension, is very common and can usually be treated. Medicines can lower blood pressure, while changes such as eating less salt, staying active, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking can also help.
Yet treatment is not reaching enough people. Researchers estimate that only about one in five people with high blood pressure worldwide has the condition under control, leaving a huge number of adults exposed to preventable heart and blood vessel disease.
A research team led by scientists at the University of Washington examined what could happen if countries greatly improved blood pressure care.
The study was published in the journal Nature Medicine in 2022 and included researchers from the World Health Organization, Resolve to Save Lives, Columbia University and Nanjing Medical University.
The team proposed a global target called “80-80-80.” Under this approach, 80% of people with high blood pressure would be tested and know they have the condition, 80% of those diagnosed would receive treatment, and 80% of those treated would bring their blood pressure down to recommended levels.
The idea is simple, but reaching it would require major improvements in everyday health care. Blood pressure checks would need to become easier to access, affordable medicines would need to be widely available, and patients would need regular follow-up so doctors could see whether treatment was working.
The researchers used health information from countries around the world to build a computer model of future heart and blood vessel disease. They compared what might happen if current trends continued with what could happen if countries expanded hypertension treatment and reduced salt intake across their populations.
The possible benefit was enormous. The model suggested that better blood pressure control could prevent about 76 million to 130 million deaths between 2022 and 2050, depending on how strongly the measures were put into practice.
It could also prevent roughly 110 million to 200 million new cases of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is a broad term for illnesses affecting the heart and blood vessels, including heart attacks and many strokes.
The study found that most countries could potentially reach the 80-80-80 target by 2040 under realistic conditions. Lower-income countries could see especially large improvements in disease rates because many currently have lower levels of diagnosis, treatment and blood pressure control.
One major challenge is that people can live with high blood pressure for years without feeling sick. This is why regular checks matter: a quick blood pressure measurement can uncover a problem long before a heart attack or stroke occurs.
The findings show that fighting heart disease does not always require a new drug or complicated technology. Making existing blood pressure checks and treatments available to far more people could become one of the most powerful ways to prevent early deaths around the world.
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