Why do we realise an high blood pressure checkup ?

High blood pressure rarely occurs in isolation. It is often accompanied by other cardiovascular risk factors.

Nearly 40% of adults in Madagascar have high blood pressure, according to figures published by the Ministry of Public Health. For many, the word hypertension is associated with excessive tension, nervousness or stress. Medically, hypertension is a persistent elevation of blood pressure. It is also called the silent killer because it usually does not cause symptoms for many years until a vital organ is damaged.

5 reasons to get a checkup

The purpose of the interview, physical examination and paraclinical workup is to:

• Confirm the presence of high blood pressure
• Search for vascular, cardiac, cerebral or renal damage related to hypertension
• Identify cardiovascular risk factors associated with a family history of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dyslipidemia, smoking, age, sex, etc.
• Assess and quantify cardiovascular risk to determine the indication for antiplatelet therapy.

Types of assessment

We can distinguish 2 types of assessment: a clinical evaluation and a paraclinical evaluation.

A clinical workup takes into account:

• (1) a regular medical follow-up consultation with your treating physician. To be renewed every 3 months.
• (1) a consultation with a CARDIOLOGIST at least once a year.

The examinations

• Search for diabetes: fasting blood sugar, HbA1C
• Research of dyslipidemia: Cholesterol (HDL, LDL, total), triglycerides
• Cardiological examinations: ECG, echocardiography for hypertensive patients in the presence of ECG abnormalities or cardiological signs / symptoms.
• Renal examinations
• Vascular examinations
• Ophthalmological examinations
• Cerebral exams