Lifestyle Medicine and Hypertension in Viet Nam: From Lifestyle Intervention to Medication and Long-Term Blood Pressure Control

Lifestyle Medicine and Hypertension in Viet Nam: From Lifestyle Intervention to Medication and Long-Term Blood Pressure Control

Last reviewed: September 2026

Hypertension is one of the clearest examples of why Lifestyle Medicine and conventional medical treatment should not be placed in opposition to each other.

Healthy eating, lower sodium intake, physical activity, appropriate weight management, reduction or avoidance of alcohol and other lifestyle interventions can help prevent hypertension and lower blood pressure after it develops. At the same time, many people need antihypertensive medication to reduce their risk of stroke, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and other complications. For some patients, delaying indicated medication while attempting lifestyle change alone may increase rather than reduce risk.

The strongest approach is therefore not “lifestyle instead of medicine.” It is accurate diagnosis, evidence-based lifestyle intervention, medication when clinically indicated and long-term follow-up that helps patients achieve and maintain blood pressure control.

This is particularly relevant in Viet Nam, where hypertension is common, average sodium intake remains high and chronic disease management is increasingly being brought closer to communities.

Why hypertension matters in Viet Nam

Hypertension often causes no obvious symptoms. The absence of headache, dizziness or other complaints does not mean that blood pressure is normal. Measurement is essential for detection, and professional evaluation remains important for assessing cardiovascular risk and associated conditions.

The national STEPS survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization in 2021 found that 26.2% of Vietnamese adults aged 18–69 years had raised blood pressure, defined as systolic blood pressure of at least 140 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure of at least 90 mmHg, or current use of antihypertensive medication. This had increased significantly from 18.9% in 2015.

The survey also showed substantial gaps between detection, treatment and control, reinforcing that hypertension management is not simply about choosing a medication. Screening, accurate diagnosis, access to continuing care, medication adherence, lifestyle support and follow-up all matter.

Important progress is occurring. In September 2026, the World Health Organization reported that Viet Nam's strengthened grassroots noncommunicable disease services were reaching around 10 million people each year. The established hypertension-control model was treating more than two million people, while diabetes and other chronic disease services were also being expanded at community level.

Hypertension therefore sits at the intersection of individual clinical care and health-system implementation, which is exactly where Lifestyle Medicine can make a useful contribution.

Diagnosis comes before Lifestyle Medicine treatment

Before discussing diet, exercise or medication, clinicians first need to establish whether hypertension is actually present.

Blood pressure varies over time and can be affected by pain, anxiety, recent physical activity, nicotine, caffeine, bladder distension, talking during measurement, incorrect positioning and inappropriate cuff size. A single elevated reading in an otherwise stable patient should therefore not automatically be treated as a complete diagnosis.

The Ministry of Health guideline issued under Decision No. 3192/QĐ-BYT defines hypertension using an office blood pressure of at least 140/90 mmHg when measured correctly. It gives corresponding thresholds of at least 130/80 mmHg for average 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure and at least 135/85 mmHg for repeated home blood pressure measurements.

The more contemporary 2022 recommendations of the Vietnam Society of Hypertension and the Vietnam National Heart Association use the same office threshold and emphasize home and ambulatory monitoring to help identify white-coat hypertension and masked hypertension.

International guidelines use somewhat different classifications. The 2025 American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association guideline defines stage 1 hypertension beginning at 130/80 mmHg, whereas the 2024 European Society of Cardiology guideline retains 140/90 mmHg as the diagnostic threshold for hypertension and uses a separate category of elevated blood pressure below that level.

These differences are manageable as long as the guideline framework is stated clearly. They are a reason not to mix thresholds from different systems. A value taken from a United States guideline should not automatically be presented as the Vietnamese diagnostic threshold.

This article focuses on hypertension in non-pregnant adults. Hypertension during pregnancy, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia follow a separate Vietnamese clinical pathway under Decision No. 1154/QĐ-BYT of May 4, 2024.

Home blood pressure monitoring can improve the clinical picture

Blood pressure measured only in a clinic may not represent the patient's usual blood pressure.

Home monitoring can help identify white-coat hypertension, where office blood pressure is high but out-of-office blood pressure is lower, and masked hypertension, where clinic measurements appear acceptable while blood pressure is elevated at home or elsewhere. Vietnamese professional recommendations therefore give home blood pressure monitoring an important role in diagnosis and ongoing management.

Technique still matters. A validated upper-arm device with an appropriately sized cuff is generally preferable. The patient should sit quietly, use a supported arm at approximately heart level and follow a consistent measurement protocol. Repeated measurements over several days are usually more informative than reacting to one isolated reading.

Technology is expanding quickly, but convenience does not guarantee accuracy. The 2025 American guideline specifically advises against relying on cuffless devices such as smartwatches for clinical blood pressure measurement until their precision and reliability improve.

Lifestyle Medicine should begin with reliable clinical information. Otherwise, treatment may be designed around inaccurate measurements.

Lifestyle intervention is part of hypertension treatment

Lifestyle intervention is not a decorative addition to hypertension management.

The 2022 Vietnamese professional recommendations describe lifestyle modification as a cornerstone of prevention and treatment. They emphasize healthy dietary patterns, weight reduction where appropriate, sodium reduction, adequate dietary potassium, regular physical activity and moderation of alcohol. They also make an important safety point: lifestyle intervention should not delay pharmacological treatment in people with hypertension-mediated organ damage or high cardiovascular risk.

The 2025 American guideline similarly recommends healthy weight, a heart-healthy dietary pattern, reduced sodium, adequate dietary potassium, physical activity, stress management and reduction or elimination of alcohol.

These recommendations fit closely with Lifestyle Medicine, but the intervention still needs to be individualized. A younger person with mildly elevated blood pressure and low overall cardiovascular risk has different treatment needs from someone with chronic kidney disease, diabetes or previous stroke.

Sodium deserves particular attention in Viet Nam

Reducing sodium is one of the most relevant Lifestyle Medicine interventions for hypertension in Viet Nam.

The 2021 STEPS survey estimated average salt intake at 8.1 grams per person per day, down from 9.4 grams in 2015 but still substantially above the World Health Organization recommendation of less than 5 grams of salt per day for adults.

In Vietnamese diets, sodium does not come only from salt added during cooking. High-sodium condiments such as fish sauce, soy sauce and bouillon products can contribute significantly, as can instant noodles, processed meats, salty preserved foods and packaged products. Current World Health Organization guidance specifically recommends limiting high-sodium condiments, including soy sauce, fish sauce and bouillon.

This does not mean that Vietnamese food needs to become bland or culturally unfamiliar. Practical strategies may include gradually reducing the amount of salty condiments used in cooking and at the table, increasing the use of herbs, spices, aromatics and acidity for flavor, choosing lower-sodium alternatives where appropriate and comparing labels on packaged foods.

The aim is not dietary perfection overnight. It is a meaningful reduction in sodium exposure that the patient can maintain.

Healthy eating is broader than salt restriction

Hypertension nutrition should not be reduced to “eat less salt.”

Dietary patterns rich in vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, nuts and other minimally processed foods can support both blood pressure and overall cardiovascular health. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension pattern, commonly known as DASH, remains one of the most extensively studied dietary approaches for blood pressure reduction.

The principles are more important than importing a foreign menu into Viet Nam.

A Vietnamese eating pattern can apply the same evidence using familiar foods: vegetables and herbs, fruit, legumes and soy foods, suitable whole or less-refined grains, fish and other appropriate protein sources, nuts and seeds, while reducing excessive sodium and highly processed foods.

Potassium-rich foods can also support blood pressure control. Current World Health Organization guidance notes that adequate potassium intake may be beneficial, particularly through fresh fruit and vegetables. This should not be interpreted as a recommendation for everyone to use potassium supplements or potassium-containing salt substitutes without consideration of clinical circumstances. People with kidney disease or those using medicines that affect potassium balance may require individual assessment and monitoring.

The Ministry of Health's Decision No. 1982/QĐ-BYT of July 1, 2026, on nutrition measures for disease prevention, continues to direct hypertension-specific nutritional management to the guideline issued under Decision No. 3192/QĐ-BYT. This is useful confirmation that the older hypertension guideline remains part of the current Ministry of Health reference framework for nutrition-related hypertension care.

Lifestyle Medicine works best when evidence is translated into the food culture and circumstances a patient already lives in.

Weight management can help, but not everyone with hypertension needs to lose weight

Excess adiposity can contribute to higher blood pressure, and intentional weight reduction among people with overweight or obesity can improve blood pressure and broader cardiometabolic health.

Weight loss should not, however, become a universal prescription for every person with hypertension. A patient without excess adiposity does not necessarily benefit from being told to lose weight, and older adults, people with frailty and people at risk of muscle loss require particular care.

The goal is not the smallest possible number on a scale. It is better blood pressure control, lower cardiovascular risk, improved metabolic health and preserved physical function.

For patients with overweight or obesity, Lifestyle Medicine can support sustainable changes in dietary patterns, activity, sleep and behavior rather than repeated cycles of severe restriction followed by regain.

Physical activity is treatment, but it needs to be appropriate

Regular physical activity can help prevent hypertension and contribute to blood pressure reduction after hypertension develops.

Exercise does not have to mean joining a gym. Walking, cycling, active transport, home-based exercise and resistance training can all contribute. What matters is that the program is safe, realistic and sufficiently sustainable to continue over time.

The 2021 STEPS survey found that 22.2% of Vietnamese adults aged 18–69 years did not meet World Health Organization recommendations for physical activity, although this was an improvement from the 2015 survey.

For some patients, the first practical intervention may be reducing prolonged sedentary time and adding regular walking. Others may be able to progress toward structured aerobic and resistance exercise.

Physical activity recommendations should account for age, baseline fitness, mobility, symptoms and comorbid conditions. People with markedly uncontrolled blood pressure or symptoms suggesting cardiovascular disease may need clinical evaluation before starting vigorous exercise.

“Exercise more” is therefore not an adequate prescription by itself.

Alcohol, tobacco and cardiovascular risk need to be addressed honestly

Alcohol can increase blood pressure, particularly at higher levels of consumption. Contemporary hypertension guidance recommends limiting alcohol, and the 2025 American guideline frames reduction or elimination of alcohol as part of blood pressure management.

This is more useful than implying that people should consume alcohol because it might be “heart healthy.” Someone who does not drink alcohol does not need to start for cardiovascular prevention.

Smoking is somewhat different. Tobacco cessation is essential because smoking substantially increases cardiovascular risk, but quitting smoking should not be presented as though it replaces antihypertensive treatment.

A patient who smokes and has hypertension needs both problems addressed.

Lifestyle Medicine is strongest when it considers overall cardiovascular risk rather than pretending that every intervention affects blood pressure through the same mechanism.

Stress matters, but “relax more” is not a hypertension treatment plan

Stress is increasingly recognized within modern blood pressure care because it can influence sympathetic activation, sleep, alcohol use, eating behavior, physical activity and medication adherence.

But this is also an area where Lifestyle Medicine can become superficial.

Telling someone to meditate while ignoring unsafe employment, severe financial pressure, caregiving responsibilities or chronic sleep deprivation is unlikely to solve the underlying problem. Relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, mindfulness, physical activity or psychological support may help some patients, but they need to be appropriate to the person's circumstances.

Stress management should never be used as a reason to postpone necessary evaluation or medication.

The clinically relevant question is not simply whether a patient feels stressed. It is whether stress or its consequences are materially affecting health, and whether there is a realistic intervention that can help.

Sleep deserves attention, particularly when blood pressure is difficult to control

Sleep is one of the core Lifestyle Medicine domains and can be clinically relevant in hypertension.

Chronic insufficient sleep can make nutrition, physical activity, emotional regulation and medication adherence more difficult. More importantly, obstructive sleep apnea is closely associated with hypertension and is common among people with resistant or difficult-to-control hypertension.

Loud snoring, witnessed breathing pauses during sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness, obesity and persistently difficult blood pressure control may justify further clinical assessment rather than simply more advice about “sleep hygiene.”

Treating a recognized sleep disorder and telling a patient to sleep longer are not equivalent interventions.

Lifestyle Medicine should not delay medication when medication is indicated

Lifestyle intervention can lower blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health, but that does not mean every patient should undergo several months of lifestyle treatment before medication is considered.

The World Health Organization recommends initiating pharmacological treatment in adults with confirmed hypertension at 140/90 mmHg or above. It also recommends treatment at lower systolic levels of 130–139 mmHg for people with established cardiovascular disease and conditionally supports treatment in people without established cardiovascular disease who have high cardiovascular risk, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.

The 2022 Vietnamese Society of Hypertension recommendations likewise combine active lifestyle modification with pharmacological treatment according to blood pressure, age, comorbidity and cardiovascular risk rather than placing them in competition.

The 2025 American guideline uses a lower diagnostic framework. It recommends medication for adults with blood pressure of at least 140/90 mmHg and for people with average blood pressure of at least 130/80 mmHg who have cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease or sufficiently elevated cardiovascular risk. Among adults with blood pressure of at least 130/80 mmHg but a lower 10-year cardiovascular risk of less than 7.5%, medication is recommended if blood pressure remains at least 130/80 mmHg after an initial 3–6 month trial of lifestyle modification.

The exact thresholds vary between guideline systems, but the clinical principle is consistent: the higher the blood pressure and cardiovascular risk, the less appropriate it becomes to delay effective treatment in the hope that lifestyle change alone will be sufficient.

Medication is not evidence that Lifestyle Medicine has failed

Many people living with hypertension will require medication for years, and some for life. That should not be interpreted as evidence that Lifestyle Medicine has failed, because blood pressure is influenced by age, genetics, kidney function, vascular biology, endocrine factors and other influences that are not fully modifiable through behavior.

A person may eat well, exercise regularly, avoid tobacco and still require antihypertensive medication.

Conversely, medication does not make lifestyle care irrelevant. Nutrition, physical activity, alcohol use, tobacco, sleep and weight where appropriate continue to influence overall cardiovascular risk even after blood pressure is pharmacologically controlled.

For many patients, the most effective strategy is lifestyle intervention plus medication.

Current hypertension guidelines also increasingly favor simplified drug regimens when more than one medicine is required. The 2025 American guideline, for example, prefers two first-line agents in a single-pill fixed-dose combination for stage 2 hypertension in order to improve adherence and achieve control more efficiently.

Specific medication selection depends on the patient's clinical circumstances and should remain a professional treatment decision.

Blood pressure targets are becoming more intensive, but they still need individualization

Contemporary guidelines do not use exactly the same treatment target.

The World Health Organization recommends a target of below 140/90 mmHg in people without major comorbidity, a systolic target below 130 mmHg for people with established cardiovascular disease, and suggests a systolic target below 130 mmHg in high-risk patients including those with diabetes or chronic kidney disease.

The 2025 American guideline uses an overarching goal below 130/80 mmHg for most adults, while recognizing the need for clinical judgment in individual circumstances.

The 2024 European Society of Cardiology guideline generally recommends a treated systolic range of 120–129 mmHg for many adults when this is well tolerated, with important exceptions based on factors such as frailty, symptoms and clinical context.

The 2022 Vietnamese professional recommendations similarly individualize targets according to age, cardiovascular risk and comorbid disease.

Patients should therefore not change medication because they encounter a different target on the internet. A target needs to be interpreted within the guideline system and the patient's own clinical circumstances.

Long-term control matters more than one good reading

Hypertension treatment is successful when blood pressure remains appropriately controlled over time, not simply when a patient obtains one reassuring reading.

This requires continuity. Home monitoring may provide information between clinic visits. Medication adherence matters. Adverse effects need to be identified before they silently lead to treatment discontinuation. Lifestyle goals should also be revisited because food patterns, physical activity, body weight, work and family circumstances change.

The 2025 American guideline emphasizes home blood pressure monitoring, standardized treatment protocols and multidisciplinary team support as tools for improving blood pressure control.

Viet Nam's expanding community hypertension-control model illustrates the same principle at health-system level: screening is only the first step. People then need diagnosis, treatment and continuing follow-up.

Lifestyle Medicine fits naturally into this model because sustained behavior change also requires repeated support rather than a single educational encounter.

Social circumstances can determine whether a treatment plan is realistic

A treatment plan can be scientifically correct and still be difficult to follow.

Food prices influence dietary choices. Shift work can affect sleep and medication timing. Long commuting hours may reduce time available for activity. Medication cost, transportation and the ability to attend follow-up can affect continuity. Household cooking practices can determine sodium exposure even when one individual wants to change.

The 2025 Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies explicitly added social determinants of health to the competencies expected in the field.

In practical hypertension care, this might mean recommending affordable local foods instead of unnecessarily expensive alternatives, designing physical activity around the patient's real schedule, simplifying follow-up where clinically appropriate or involving family members in dietary changes.

The clinical goal does not need to be lowered. The pathway needs to be made realistic enough for the patient to follow.

Difficult-to-control blood pressure should trigger reassessment, not simply more lifestyle advice

Persistently elevated blood pressure despite treatment requires investigation into why control has not been achieved.

Incorrect measurement, white-coat effect, inadequate treatment intensity, poor adherence, high sodium intake and heavy alcohol use may all contribute. Medications and substances such as some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, decongestants, stimulants, corticosteroids or hormonal treatments can also raise blood pressure.

Some patients have secondary hypertension caused by kidney disease, primary aldosteronism, renovascular disease, endocrine disorders, obstructive sleep apnea or other conditions.

The American Heart Association's scientific statement on resistant hypertension therefore emphasizes confirmation of accurate measurement, assessment of adherence and out-of-office blood pressure, review of interfering substances and lifestyle factors, and evaluation for secondary causes before concluding that treatment is truly resistant.

Lifestyle Medicine has an important role in this assessment, but resistant hypertension should not become a judgment about whether a patient is sufficiently motivated.

Sometimes the correct next intervention is additional medical investigation rather than another lifestyle goal.

Very high blood pressure requires prompt clinical assessment

Lifestyle interventions generally work over time. Very high blood pressure may require much more immediate action.

The 2022 Vietnamese professional recommendations classify blood pressure around or above 180/120 mmHg as a hypertension-crisis range requiring assessment for acute target-organ damage.

The blood pressure number alone, however, does not define a hypertensive emergency. The critical distinction is whether acute organ injury is present.

A person with very high blood pressure together with signs or symptoms suggesting acute neurological, cardiovascular, renal or other target-organ injury requires urgent medical assessment. Examples can include acute neurological deficit, severe chest pain, acute pulmonary edema or other features of organ damage.

The 2025 American guideline separately describes severe hypertension above 180/120 mmHg without acute target-organ damage and recommends timely clinical evaluation and initiation, reinstitution or intensification of oral antihypertensive therapy rather than automatically treating every such reading as an emergency.

The practical message for patients is simple: very high blood pressure should not be managed by trying to walk more, reducing salt for several days or using an unverified home remedy. It needs appropriate medical assessment.

Hypertension care in Viet Nam sits within a changing clinical and legal environment

The Ministry of Health issued Decision No. 3192/QĐ-BYT on August 31, 2010, establishing a national professional guideline for diagnosis and treatment of hypertension across healthcare facilities. It defines the diagnostic framework, addresses lifestyle intervention and sets out pharmacological management.

The document is now more than 15 years old and predates substantial recent evidence. The Vietnam Society of Hypertension and Vietnam National Heart Association therefore provide an important more contemporary professional reference through their 2022 recommendations. These are professional society recommendations, however, rather than a replacement Ministry regulation.

Importantly, the Ministry of Health's 2026 nutrition guidance under Decision No. 1982/QĐ-BYT continues to direct hypertension-specific nutritional management to Decision No. 3192/QĐ-BYT, confirming that the older guideline remains relevant within the Ministry's current reference framework.

International and professional society guidelines can therefore inform updated clinical thinking, but they do not automatically replace Vietnamese legal requirements, professional scopes or Ministry guidance.

The Law on Disease Prevention No. 114/2025/QH15, effective from July 1, 2026, further strengthens Viet Nam's legal framework for prevention, early detection, counseling, monitoring and community management of noncommunicable diseases.

Diagnosis, prescribing and medication adjustment remain regulated clinical activities under Viet Nam's Law on Medical Examination and Treatment. Patients should not start, stop or change prescription antihypertensive medication solely on the basis of internet information or individual blood pressure readings without appropriate professional assessment.

What should good Lifestyle Medicine for hypertension look like?

Good Lifestyle Medicine for hypertension begins with accurate measurement and risk assessment, not with an automatic list of six lifestyle recommendations.

The clinical team needs to determine whether hypertension is present, assess cardiovascular and kidney risk, identify existing organ damage and comorbid disease, review medications and consider whether secondary causes require investigation. Lifestyle factors can then be assessed within the same clinical context.

Priorities will differ from person to person. Sodium reduction may be especially important for one patient. For another, physical activity and appropriate weight management may be central. Someone else may need support for alcohol reduction, tobacco cessation or assessment for obstructive sleep apnea.

Medication should be initiated or intensified when clinically indicated rather than withheld because Lifestyle Medicine is being used. If blood pressure improves substantially over time, medication requirements can be reassessed by an appropriately authorized healthcare professional.

Progress should be followed using reliable blood pressure measurements, relevant clinical outcomes, medication adherence and the lifestyle behaviors being targeted. When a plan is not working, the response should be reassessment and adaptation rather than simply repeating the same advice.

When lifestyle factors are clinically assessed, treated and followed alongside appropriate pharmacological treatment, they are not an optional addition to hypertension care. They are part of hypertension care.

What does this mean for Viet Nam?

Viet Nam already has important foundations for better hypertension control: population screening, expanding management at grassroots level, national and professional hypertension guidance and a health policy environment increasingly focused on prevention and long-term noncommunicable disease care.

Lifestyle Medicine can strengthen this work by helping make sodium reduction, healthy eating, physical activity, weight management where appropriate, alcohol reduction, tobacco cessation, sleep assessment, behavior-change support and social context more systematic parts of clinical management.

It should not create a parallel treatment system or encourage people to choose between lifestyle and medication.

A stronger model is one in which a person can be identified early, accurately diagnosed, receive the appropriate combination of lifestyle and pharmacological treatment, use home monitoring where useful, receive support from an appropriate healthcare team and remain connected to care over the long term.

For some people, lifestyle changes may delay the development of hypertension. For others, they may contribute meaningfully to lower blood pressure and cardiovascular risk. Some patients may eventually require less medication, while others will need long-term pharmacological treatment despite maintaining very healthy behaviors.

All of these can represent successful care.

Long-term blood pressure control is the real goal

Hypertension illustrates an important principle of Lifestyle Medicine: behavior change can have meaningful biological effects, but chronic disease management cannot be reduced to behavior alone.

A healthy diet does not make medication unnecessary for everyone. Medication does not make healthy behavior irrelevant. A normal blood pressure today does not guarantee control next year.

The real goal is durable reduction of cardiovascular and kidney risk through accurate diagnosis, evidence-based lifestyle intervention, appropriate medication and sustained follow-up.

That message may be less dramatic than promising that hypertension can be “reversed naturally,” but it is much closer to how good medicine works.

For Viet Nam, where hypertension affects a substantial proportion of adults and community-based chronic disease care is expanding, integrating Lifestyle Medicine more systematically into long-term blood pressure management could make both prevention and treatment more complete.

The most useful question is therefore not whether lifestyle can replace blood pressure medication.

It is:

How can lifestyle intervention and appropriate medical treatment work together to help more people achieve safe and sustained blood pressure control?

References

1. Ministry of Health of Viet Nam and World Health Organization. National Survey on the Risk Factors of Noncommunicable Diseases in Viet Nam, 2021. World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific; 2025.

2. World Health Organization Viet Nam. Strengthened grassroots health care brings NCD services to 10 million in Viet Nam. September 8, 2026.

3. Ministry of Health of Viet Nam. Decision No. 3192/QĐ-BYT issuing the Guideline for Diagnosis and Treatment of Hypertension. August 31, 2010.

4. Ministry of Health of Viet Nam. Decision No. 1982/QĐ-BYT issuing professional guidance on nutrition measures for disease prevention. July 1, 2026.

5. Ministry of Health of Viet Nam. Decision No. 1154/QĐ-BYT issuing the Guideline for Screening, Diagnosis and Management of Hypertension in Pregnancy, Pre-eclampsia and Eclampsia. May 4, 2024.

6. Minh HV, et al. Highlights of the 2022 Vietnamese Society of Hypertension Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Arterial Hypertension. Journal of Clinical Hypertension. 2022.

7. Vietnam Society of Hypertension and Vietnam National Heart Association. Recommendations for Diagnosis and Treatment of Hypertension 2022.

8. World Health Organization. Guideline for the Pharmacological Treatment of Hypertension in Adults. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2021.

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10. McEvoy JW, McCarthy CP, Bruno RM, et al. 2024 ESC Guidelines for the Management of Elevated Blood Pressure and Hypertension. European Heart Journal. 2024;45(38):3912–4018. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehae178.

11. Carey RM, Calhoun DA, Bakris GL, et al. Resistant Hypertension: Detection, Evaluation, and Management: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Hypertension. 2018.

12. World Health Organization. Healthy Diet. Current guidance on sodium, potassium and healthy dietary patterns.

13. World Health Organization Viet Nam. Speech of Dr Angela Pratt on Salt Reduction and Solutions to Promote a Healthy Diet. August 19, 2026.

14. National Assembly of Viet Nam. Law on Disease Prevention No. 114/2025/QH15, effective July 1, 2026.

15. Office of the National Assembly of Viet Nam. Consolidated Document No. 26/VBHN-VPQH, Law on Medical Examination and Treatment. February 26, 2026.

16. Rea BL, Cheema S, Lanza S, et al. Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies: 2025 Update. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. 2026;20(3):443–451. First published online October 28, 2025. doi:10.1177/15598276251379821.

This article is intended for professional education and general information. It does not provide individualized medical advice and should not be used to diagnose hypertension or to start, stop or change blood pressure medication. Blood pressure diagnosis, treatment targets and medication decisions should be individualized by appropriately qualified healthcare professionals according to the patient's clinical circumstances and the applicable Vietnamese professional and legal framework.

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