HYDERABAD, Nov 24: Hypertension or high blood pressure is a killer disease and people should get themselves checked regularly, said leading health specialists. The warning was made during a seminar on hypertension at the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Jamshoro Campus on Saturday. It was presided over by the Vice Chancellor Dr Noshad Ahmed Shaikh.

Specialists said people should be more careful as high blood pressure does not have specific symptoms but creates complications like paralysis, heart attack, heart and kidney failure and blindness.

“About 70 per cent patients are not even aware of suffering from the disease,” they said and added, “it is necessary to create awareness among people of its consequences.” They said 10 per cent of the population of Pakistan was suffering from this disease. Heart Specialist, Prof Azhar Farooqui said hypertension was major problem of the world as 90 per cent patients reside in poor countries.

Dr Farooqui said only 10 per cent resources were being used on such patients and added around 10 per cent of the population suffer from hypertension in the US, the UK and Germany but the resource used on these patients was more than the combined expenses of the whole world. He asked the people to remain alert as 10 million suffered from this disease per annum around the world.

The VC in his presidential address said the university was striving hard to conduct research on various diseases and it was also organising a series of lectures and seminars to disseminate latest information. He dwelt at length on the causes of high blood pressure.

Prof Maqbool Jafri stressed the need for holding informative programmes and said paradoxically heart was a strong organ but also weak. He said it pumps five litre of blood per minute.

The Chairman Public Health Seminars and noted Heart Specialist Prof Nazeer Memon welcomed the participants and explained the objectives of seminar. He said 10 per cent of the population was suffering from hypertension but only three per cent taking medicines.

Dr Muzaffar Shaikh and Prof Shahzad Laghari also spoke on the occasion.