Written By: Muskan Gupta | Updated : May 14, 2026 5:34 PM IST
Medically Verified By: Dr Praveen Gupta
World Hypertension Day (Image AI Generated)
High blood pressure (hypertension) is thought to be more prevalent in the 50-60 age group. That is, however, rapidly changing, with many young persons (in their 20s, 30s, and 40s) having high blood pressure. Some young and active individuals are sustaining stroke and heart attack without warning, which is even worse.
On this World Hypertension Day, the need is to have a good understanding of the lifestyle contributing to the rising trend of uncontrolled hypertension among the younger population.
According to Dr Praveen Gupta, Chairman - Marengo Asia International Institute of Neuro & Spine (MAIINS), Gurugram, "There are a lot of young people living with chronic stress. It is now common practice for people to work long hours, to be pressurized at work, to worry about money, to have poor sleep and to feel mentally tired. If stress persists for an extended period of time, the body stays in "high alert" mode. This maintains high blood pressure for several hours or even throughout the day."
"Too much screen time is another important problem. Lots of people are sitting for extended periods of time while utilizing mobile phones or laptops or looking at TV. The amount of physical activity is extremely low. A sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical activity over the long-term leads to weakness of the heart, excess weight and high blood pressure," the doctor added.
Excess screen time
Loss of sleep is also very common. Even late nights using the phone, excessive gaming, or even frequent changes of work hours will affect sleep. Poor sleep leads to elevated blood pressure and more stress hormones in the body.
Dr Praveen said, "Many youth feel that if they're healthy or participate in the gym they can't get serious diseases. This is not true. Healthy individuals having strokes or heart attacks during exercise. In many of such instances, it was primarily due to undiagnosed or uncontrolled hypertension."
Many times, hypertension is not associated with a symptoms and is only discovered when something serious occurs. That's why it is referred to as the "silent killer," since the disease causes damage to vital organs such as the brain, heart, kidneys, and eyes without showing any obvious symptoms. May produce paralysis, heart attack, kidney disease or death.
Despite this, hypertension can be prevented and controlled with the following simple steps Keep track of blood pressure on a regular basis, even if you feel well. Walk regularly or exercise. Limit salt and too much oil in food; Keep a healthy body weight; Sleep well; and do not smoke and limit alcohol consumption.
