*‘Pay Attention To Your Health’
A CONSULTANT Cardiologist, Dr. Bode Adejumo, has urged Nigerians to embrace preventive measures and lifestyle changes that could help them to live healthy lives, thereby reducing the prevalence of hypertension.
Adejumo, a staff of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos in commemoration of this years World Hypertension Day on Friday, May 17.
The day aims to raise public awareness of high blood pressure, a leading cause of death that affects over one billion people worldwide and claims 7.5 million lives each year.
Adejumo said one of the ways to prevent hypertension was through lifestyle changes, diet and exercise, even as he recommended at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise five times a week.
He said: “This, alongside healthy diet, will go a long way in reducing high blood pressure.
“There are people who always add salt to their meal, salt intake should be greatly reduced. You can use spices, since they have some salt contents and that will reduce the amount of salt.
“Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, fruits that contain potassium, because they help to reduce high blood pressure. Fruits like banana and orange help in controlling and preventing high blood pressure.
“Also, take enough water, reduce alcohol and smoking. When you are able to do all these things, it will help in controlling not just high blood pressure, but also diabetes and cholesterol level.”
He emphasised that to control hypertension, lifestyle modification was very important, as according to him, studies have shown that when you take low salt, your hypertension is likely going to go down.
The cardiologist noted that diet, lifestyle modifications and consideration for barriers to blood pressure control, like poor knowledge about the condition, must be part of all treatment regimens.
Adejumo, who described hypertension as a silent killer, decried the rate of sudden deaths among Nigerians due to heart attack, lamenting that the death of most young Nigerians could be linked to heart-related challenges caused by undetected and unmanaged hypertension due to lack of preventive measures among the citizens.
He added that lack of proper information and education about the disease were other contributing factors, advising Nigerians to imbibe the culture of going for medical checkups and regularly check on their BP, as absence of symptoms does not mean there was none.
“In some cases, high blood pressure condition shows no symptoms, which makes it difficult for the patients to realise that they have the condition; hence the need for regular medical checks.
“High blood pressure can also be hereditary, so people with a family history of the disease should be more watchful of their lifestyles, while also maintaining a relationship with their cardiologists.”
In the same vein, the Director General of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Prof. Babatunde Salako, urged Nigerians to pay attention to their health to prevent hypertension.
Salako, who described hypertension as a silent killer, said in Lagos that regular screening remains key to preventing or managing the disease, adding that individuals within the age range of 45 to 60 years were at high risk of having hypertension, including individuals with family history of hypertension.
He said: “If you don’t want to die young or live the rest of your life with stroke, it is very important to pay attention to your health.
“Hypertension is a silent killer that doesn’t give any symptoms like malaria. It increases bit by bit until it bursts an artery, which results to stroke, cardiac arrest, kidney failure or even death.
“It is common in older adult, but we are beginning to see young people having it, and it also grows with age. Ages 45 to 60 years are very dangerous ages, because a lot of people die within that range.
“You must pay due attention to your health by going for regular screening and taking your prescribed drugs.”
Also speaking, a Consultant Physician/Nephrologist, Dr. Danladi Nmadu, said hypertension is blood pressure that puts an individual at increased risk of having cardiovascular events.
Nmadu, a staff of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ebute Metta, Lagos, said the cardiovascular events cause damage to the heart, brain and the kidney, adding: “Hypertension is a blood pressure that is elevated and this can increase the risk of cardiovascular event.
“A lot of individuals think hypertension is over flogged and that is why many Nigerians are working about with elevated blood pressure and are not aware.
“It is important for Nigerians to check their blood pressure regularly to prevent cardiovascular events that will put them at risk.”
Nmadu noted that young people with hypertension should get their thyroid and kidney checked, saying the diseases is a major cause of hypertension in young people.
He, however, advised Nigerians to check their blood pressure regularly and shun unhealthy lifestyle to prevent hypertension.
