Profile of hypertension in Turkey: from prevalence to patient awareness and compliance with therapy, and a focus on reasons of increase in hypertension among youths.

Hypertension is one of the most common noncommunicable chronic diseases and is an important risk factor for vascular complications. The prevalence of hypertension is very high worldwide, and it is still increasing in low- and middle-income countries. Although some improvements were reported in high-income countries in recent years, there is still much to do to overcome hypertension and its complications. Identically, hypertension is a severe public health issue in Turkey. Approximately one third of the adult population has got hypertension but almost half is unaware of the disease. Children and youths are also affected by the burden of hypertension. Increased body mass index and obesity frequently accompany hypertension in children and adolescents. Major contributors to the disease burden appears to be consumption of high amounts of dietary sodium, lack of appropriate physical activity, increasing weight and obesity. In the last decades, an improvement at disease awareness has been achieved but blood-pressure control rates are still low in Turkey. Traditional and natural products, including lemon juice and garlic, are very popular among patients with concerns regarding medications' side effects. Patients' adherence to therapy differs between regions and increases in parallel with high education level. Decreasing daily salt intake has been shown to reduce the prevalence of hypertension substantially and to prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular deaths in a cost effective manner in projection studies. Finally, improving education of patients, which has positive effects on disease awareness, treatment adherence, and blood-pressure control rates, should be considered.