PUERTO PRINCESA CITY (PNA) — Hypertension or high blood pressure, the chronic medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is elevated, is the leading cause of death in this city, according to City Health Officer Dr. Juancho Monserate.

Monserate said their record shows that 154 had died due to hypertension since January.

Some cases, he said, are caused by “other conditions that affect the kidneys, arteries, heart, or the endocrine system.”

He said residents of this city should embrace healthy lifestyle activities to avoid hypertension because it is one of the risk factors for strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, and arterial aneurysm, and is a leading cause of chronic kidney failure.

Recommended lifestyle changes are weight reduction and regular exercise, reducing dietary sugar intake, low salt and regular fruits and vegetables in the diet, discontinue tobacco use, and stress reduction by doing meditation and other mind-body relaxation techniques.

Monserate said the City Health Office (CHO) here is continuously conducting information campaigns regarding their sponsored healthy lifestyle activities, such as the “Hataw sa Baybay,” or mass exercise at the Puerto Princesa City Baywalk that is free for everyone to join.

Meanwhile, the CHO also warned residents of this city to take care of their health against malaria, especially with the onset of the rainy season.

Residents who live in distant barangays (villages) should use insecticide-treated bed nets to avoid getting the mosquito-borne disease.