The Global Burden of Disease Study 2015 and Blood Pressure

The Global Burden of Disease Study 2015[1] reported that the five largest contributors to global disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) among diseases, injuries and risk factors were high systolic blood pressure (212 million with 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs) 193–231 million), smoking (149 with 95% CIs 134–163 million), high fasting plasma glucose (143 with 95% CIs 125–164 million), high body mass index (120 million with 95% CIs 84–158 million) and childhood undernutrition (113 million with 95% CIs 104–123 million). High total cholesterol, alcohol use and diets high in sodium were also listed among the top 10 risk factors. Interestingly, in 1990, childhood undernutrition, unsafe water and high systolic blood pressure were the three leading risk factors for attributable DALYs. Of these, only high systolic blood pressure continued to be ranked among the three leading risk factors in 2015. The Global Burden of Disease report concludes that achievement of optimal blood pressure in the population would yield large potential gains in global health and that study of blood pressure in people younger than 60 years of age is an important area for future investigation. A wide array of clinical and population strategies are available to reduce systolic blood pressure, including improving nutrition, increasing physical activity, reducing or slowing the rise of high body mass index, and in many countries providing access to effective anti-hypertensive medications. We believe that the Global Burden of Disease Study is the most useful global effort to inform governments, health care providers and the population at large of the real issues of risk factors, diseases and injuries in the world and the most important global study to reveal that hypertension has remained the leading risk factor for disease and death worldwide for the past quarter century. Blood Pressure is making an important contribution for elucidating the global problem of hypertension by publishing a wide array of research from around the world, as reflected by the papers in the current issue. Disclosure statement