Health warning for taxi-drivers

Nearly 75 per cent of Dublin taxi drivers have high blood pressure, a study has indicated.

More than 100 taxi drivers were randomly selected and tested at Dublin airport. The tests, carried out by nurses earlier this month, found that 74 per cent were hypertensive. Only 12 per cent were aware of their condition.

The findings maintained that 94 per cent of those found to have the condition were unaware of what it entailed.

The figure for high blood pressure among Dublin taxi drivers is considerably higher than global statistics, which suggest that approximately 20 per cent of the adult population (about one billion people worldwide) are affected by hypertension.

The Dublin airport survey was undertaken to mark World Hypertension Day.

Dr Alice Stanton, chairwoman of the Irish Heart Foundation's Council on High Blood Pressure, said yesterday that the latest figures concerning taxi drivers were "exceedingly worrying".

She said that almost 50 per cent of Irish deaths were due to cardiovascular disease including heart attack and stroke.

She added that two-thirds of strokes and half of heart attacks were attributable to "non-optimal blood pressure control".