Dubbed as the "silent killer," hypertension or high blood pressure is a growing health problem in Southeast Asia, a doctor warned on Wednesday.

According to Dr. Lynn Gomez, president of the Philippine Society of Hypertension, the Philippines alone records around 200,000 deaths annually due to target organ damage brought about by cardiovascular diseases.

The condition makes patients vulnerable to target organ damage which can cause death.

Here is Southeast Asia, hypertension is becoming a growing problem and as it is now a lot of people are not aware that they are hypertensive," she said.

Lifestyle, which includes physical activity, food intake, and vices, also plays an important factor in one's vulnerability to hypertension.

Gomez joins ANC's "Early Edition" to discuss more about hypertension.

--ANC Early Edition March 09 2017