The recent increase in the incidence of high blood pressure is faster in men than in womenㅣSource: Getty Image Bank
More than 800,000 people each year are first diagnosed with high blood pressure or begin treatment for high blood pressure. According to the National Health Insurance Corporation and the Korean Society of Hypertension, published by the National Health Insurance Big Data on Hypertension in Koreans, a total of 830,000 hypertension patients occurred in 2021. The number of hypertension patients continues to increase from 550,000 in 2014. This is because the number of people diagnosed with hypertension has increased due to an increase in the obese population and the elderly, and an increase in the rate of health checkups.
If the number of new hypertension cases per year is divided by the number of people covered by health insurance in that year, the incidence rate of hypertension is obtained. As of 2021, 2 out of 100 men and 1.6 out of 100 women had new cases. Regardless of the year, however, the incidence of male hypertension is 1.2 to 1.3 times higher than that of females.
In addition, the recent increase in the incidence of hypertension is faster in men than in women. It is ‘obesity’ that is pointed out as the cause of the faster increase in male hypertensive patients. As a result of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the rate of increase in adult obesity was steeper in men than in women. Then, why is it that obese people are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure than people of normal weight?
This is because adipose tissue goes beyond the storage of excess energy and also serves as an endocrine organ that secretes various substances. Several substances secreted by fat cells are called ‘Adipokines’. Representative adipokines include leptin, a protein hormone that suppresses appetite, and adiponectin, a protein hormone that breaks down fat.
Adipokines play an important role in various metabolic processes that occur in our body, such as carbohydrate metabolism, immune function, and reproductive function, as well as fat metabolism. However, if you are obese, there is a problem with adipokine secretion, and as the secretion of a specific adipokine increases or decreases, obesity-related diseases occur.
Academia believes that adiponectin, one of the adipokines, has a close influence on blood vessel and blood pressure health. This is because blood levels of adiponectin are lower in people with prehypertension or suffering from hypertension than in people with normal blood pressure. In other words, it is reported that people with high adiponectin levels have a lower probability of developing cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension than people with low levels.
In addition, obesity adversely affects blood flow and the structure and function of the cardiovascular system. Obesity increases total blood volume and cardiac output. In general, if you are obese, your cardiac output will be higher at the same level of blood pressure. As the load on the heart increases, blood pressure rises and the risk of cardiovascular disease increases.
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