Patience Ngozi Obiagwu, Professor of Pediatrics at the Bayero University (BUK), Kano, Kano State, has expressed concerns over increasing rate of hypertension and high blood pressure cases in Nigeria.
Obiagwu, who is also a Consultant Pediatrician at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, exclusively told BusinessDay that the reason was that Nigerians, especially the elderly don’t attend hospitals for check-ups to see qualified medical doctors.
“Seriously, instead some go to churches or mission houses, tradition healers, while some preferred to use native medications to control blood pressures and blood sugar.
“It shows that people are not caring for their health, something is really wrong and worrisome. We said prevention is better, cheaper than cure, we know what the economy says now”, she said.
Obiagwu said the ways to prevent such diseases are controlling blood pressure, reducing salt in-take, drinking enough water and active lifestyle, instead of just sitting down.
To avoid sedentary lifestyle, she stressed that people must watch what they eat, eat healthy, sleep well and move around.
“These are basic of things, those are the things that can prevent hypertension, diabetes, kidney diseases. Thus, it is also hereditary in families, at least identifying it, take your medications and controlling it, that’s what gives somebody a long life.
“Somebody with a very high blood pressure can just have stroke and you will be walking around because it doesn’t show in the face. So it is safer to go for check-ups. People should show more concern about their healths,” Obiagwu affirmed.
She warned about taking anyhow drugs because it easily affects the kidneys.
“Some of the people when they have body pains, they take a lot of pain killers, panadol is safer, but others are not, those of Ibuprofen drugs, they kills the livers.
“As people are getting old the pains are there, but don’t take much drugs, it affects the kidneys.
“Somebody also takes antibiotic anyhow even when they don’t need it. There are some sickness, you don’t need antibiotics, but our people do, may be because of lack of knowledge they say I must take anti-malaria, my body is hot, let me take malaria medicine.
“One of the ways which we can help to prevent it, so they say knowledge is power, as long as you know, you can prevent it, if you don’t know, you eat anyhow, get fat anyhow.
“The fatter you grow, makes it difficult for your heart to pump well, so your blood pressures, kidneys are hit, and you are prone to diabetes.
“So better life, better feeding, and understand that the economy is not too good. The cost of one insertion of dialysis is not affordable even for the richest. It is between N50,000 twice and N60,000 daily, depending. It could be prevented with little things that we can do.
“You cannot cure high blood pressure, but you can control it, you cannot cure diabetes, it is for you to take your medications and pray over it.
“For me, prevention, health education and talking to people about it will at least help, don’t do this, do that will help prevent some of the sickness,” Obiagwu affirmed.
