Influence of obesity on arterial hypertension
Despite the fact that six groups of medicines are used worldwide for treatment of arterial hypertension and significant funds are allocated annually for creation of new effective drugs, maintenance of optimal blood pressure is still a problem. Epidemiological studies carried out in the USA showed that only 29 % of patients suffering from hypertension had blood pressure below 140/90 mmHg. At the same time, this number in the United Kingdom reaches only 6%.
Analysis of ineffective treatment causes revealed that frequently a medicine is selected without consideration of a dominating pathophysiological mechanism of arterial hypertension. Another observation is that doctors underestimate efficiency of non-pharmaceutical treatment and patient's self-control training during control of blood pressure. All mentioned causes are vital in prevention of ineffective treatment of arterial hypertension for patients with excess weight and obesity.
Excess weight is diagnosed for a patient whose body weight index (body weight in kilograms divided by squared height in meters) is 25-29.9 kg/m2. Obesity is diagnosed when body weight index is > or equal to 30 kg/m2.
Excess weight and obesity are becoming the major medical issue in the USA and other developed countries. Based on literature data published in 1999 one third of population of the United States is obese.
It has been proved that obesity is a risk factor of the following diseases:
- Gallstone disease.
- Coronary heart disease.
- Depressions.
- Pancreatic diabetes.
- Hyperlipidemia.
- Arterial hypertension.
- Sterility.
- Osteoarthritis.
- Ovary, breast and endometrial cancer.
- Reflux diseases.
- Sleep apnea.
Based on the Framingham research data, obesity served as hypertension cause for 70% of men and 60% of women. Influence of body weight, sodium and potassium on hypertension was studied during the research in 52 world medical centers. Results of the research showed that body weight index is directly related to arterial hypertension independently from sodium and potassium quantity in a diet.
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Pathophysiological peculiarities of arterial hypertension at obesity
