A 17-year-old boy was rushed to Poona Hospital after he lost consciousness and collapsed at home. The emergency doctors were surprised to see his blood pressure reading: it was 200/120 mmHg instead of 120/80 mmHg. He was in a hypertensive crisis, when the BP surges past 180/120 mmHg and can cause life-threatening damage to organs like the brain, heart or the kidneys.

The team of cardiologists ran a series of medical tests and checked for a tear in the aorta, the body’s main artery, which usually triggers such BP spikes. Yet all his tests were negative. Then they looked at his other markers — he had obesity, was addicted to fast food, noodles or high salt-sugar-fat food through the day, making them his main meals, and had a very sedentary lifestyle. He was tied to his devices, be it for st

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