Life Skills program which aims to empower and equip youths with the necessary skills to be active contributors within their community, held an awareness session about high blood pressure under the title “The Silent Killer.”
High blood pressure (HBP, or hypertension) is often called the “silent killer” since it has no obvious symptoms to indicate that something is wrong. HBP is dangerous because it makes the heart work harder to pump blood out to the body and contributes to hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis, to stroke, kidney disease, and heart failure.
Throughout the awareness session, 80 youths learned about HBP and that it can damage blood vessels when it reaches high levels — a top number (systolic pressure) of 180 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), or higher or a bottom number (diastolic pressure) of 120 mm Hg or higher. In addition, they learned that if HBP is left untreated, blood pressure of 180/120 or higher results in 80% chance of death within one year, with an average survival rate of ten months. They also learned how use the blood pressure machine and how to detect the symptoms in order to secure patients as much as they can in their surroundings.
The Life Skills program which is funded by the German government, the Kingdom of Netherlands, and UK Aid, and implemented in partnership between UNICEF and the Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST), will stay by the youths’ side to empower them and create an atmosphere of social cohesion.
