A recent study has revealed that the treatment of hypertension has vastly improved over the past two decades in Canada (CMAJ. 2011 Jun 14;183(9):1007-13) as awareness of the condition’s risks grows and drug treatments become more prevalent. The study looked at blood pressure measurements of Canadians between the ages of 20 and 79 and found that while the rate of hypertension remained stable at 19.7% to 21.6% of the population, rates of treatment and control had greatly improved. Over the period of the study, which was based on the review of three large-scale surveys, control of the condition through drug regimes had substantially improved, with 64.6% of those with the condition receiving treatment in 2009, up from 13.2% in 1992, ranking Canada as one of the most successful nations at treating hypertension. Despite the improvement in awareness and treatment, the study revealed that while Canada has one of the world’s lowest hypertension rates, a third of the population still has blood pressure above recommended targets and cardiovascular disease remains the most common cause of death and disability.
