ABSTRACT
Arterial hypertension is one of the most frequent pathologic situations in general practice. The purpose of the present study has been to discover the real incidence of blood hypertension among people in the island of Tenerife, and its possible relation to several factors, such as age, sex, constitution, type of work, alimentary habits, and pathologic background, as well as the distribution of the disease according to the different altimetric zones of the island. A total of 1,728 individuals of both sexes (ages ranged from 13 to 74 years) were included in the study. Arterial hypertension was demonstrated in 19 percent of the subjects, borderline values were recorded in 11 percent of the individuals; 70 percent of the population exhibited normal arterial tension values. The incidence of blood hypertension increased progressively with age, and was similar in both sexes up until 44 years of age; in the older group hypertension was significantly higher among women. An important finding was the discovery that 90 percent of the hypertensive people were unaware of their condition, were aware but received no treatment, or were treated but were not kept under control. The younger the individual was, the higher was the proportion of subjects without treatment; 32 percent of the patients were under 45 years of age. In this group of young hypertensive people 83 percent of them did not receive anti-hypertensive therapy. while 16 percent of the same group were taking medication but did not have the disease under control.