One in three Croatians has a blood pressure of more than 140/90, and high blood pressure is today considered the number one killer in the world. Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of death in almost all countries, including Croatia.
In Croatia, cardiovascular diseases were a cause of death in 47.4 percent of cases in 2015, claiming 25,694 lives, Croatian Hypertension Society president Bojan Jelakovic said. Figures show that 60 percent of persons suffering from hypertension receive medical treatment, but only 20 percent of patients manage to control their blood pressure, he added.
Hypertension is caused by obesity, lack of physical activity, excessive table salt intake, alcohol, smoking, diabetes or renal damage. "All this can be prevented, but bad habits die hard and that's why the efforts made so far and prevention programmes haven't been successful. Another reason for poor blood pressure control is that a third of patients never take any of the prescribed medicines, and those who start treatment begin to skip therapy after a while," Jelakovic said.
All medicines to treat hypertension and modern intervention methods are available in Croatia. The Croatian Hypertension Society has prepared guidelines for diagnosis of this disease, specifying tests that need to be carried out for certain patients.