Australia should not discount the danger of high blood pressure, which is the main culprit behind most death and disease in the country, a group of Australia’s leading experts has warned. While just over one in five adults–more than four million Australians–have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, researchers found that many of them are not receiving proper treatment, and 50 percent of them are not aware of it. “Blood pressure is the leading cause of death. Lots of people are not aware of that,” said lead author Alta Schutte, Professorial Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health and Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at UNSW Sydney. “If you’re not aware of it, then you can’t do anything about it, so awareness is the first step.” “Once that is covered, then you can start treating it. […] When you treat people, and their blood pressure is not reduced sufficiently, …