Hypertension: Expert attributes sudden deaths to lifestyle

By Tumininu Ojelabi Hassan

Arinze, a 38-year old man, who had a stroke was rushed to the emergency unit of a hospital. After series of tests were carried out, it was discovered that he was hypertensive and he was a heavy smoker and consumed alcohol excessively.

Unfortunately, Arinze didn’t survive this sickness as he died two days after he was admitted to the hospital.

This is one of the numerous cases of sudden deaths occurring in the country amongst young people, who should just start achieving their lifetime goals.

Dr. T.I. Adeeko, spoke with our correspondent concerning the causes of sudden deaths in the country and how to manage hypertension, stroke and other complications of hypertension.

“Hypertension is a lifetime condition caused by the rising level of the blood pressure above 140/90. Stroke is the complication, which results from mismanagement of hypertension.

“Asides stroke, when hypertension isn’t controlled properly, it can lead to other complications like Kidney failure, eye problem, brain damage, heart attack, coma, which leads to people slumping and dying suddenly.

“However, other health conditions can lead to slumping and sudden death. They include anaemia, internal bleeding, lung condition among others. A lot of people in Nigeria are nonchalant about their health due to ignorance or religious belief.

“Some people prefer to take herbs than taking medications while some do not take their medications at all due to their religious beliefs because they believe taking their medications is unnecessary, most of them claim all they need is prayer. When we are counseling them about the state of their health, they will say God forbid immediately.

“Another major factor killing people is self denial. Some patients do not want to accept that they are hypersensitive, hence they go about living their lives without taking medications or adjusting their lifestyle to mange their health.

“Also, some will take their medications, once their blood pressure is regulated, they stop using it, forgetting that the primary job of anti-hypertensive drugs is to maintain the blood pressure to the normal level to avoid complications.

“When the person stops taking medications after the blood pressure normalises, the patient might come back with an elevated heart rate because he/she stopped. Taking medication is a continuous process, it doesn’t stop,” she explained.

Adeeko revealed the types of hypertension. Primary hypertension happens in people with a family history of hypertension. This is why it’s possible for young people to be hypertensive due to genetics while Secondary hypertension is caused by another medical condition like diabetes, kidney disease and damage of other organs mostly due to lifestyle.

There is also White collar hypertension, which is not common as it happens when a person’s blood pressure is high in the hospital but normalises when the person gets home. This is often caused by anxiety,” she stated.

She added that children with congenital abnormalities from birth or organ diseases can have hypertension and stroke. When they have stroke, this doesn’t necessarily mean they have hypertension. In children, stroke can be caused by vascular conditions, sickle cell and cerebral palsy.

According to Dr. Adeeko, there are risk factors that predispose people to hypertension, which include smoking, excessive alcohol intake, excessive consumption of sodium (salt and seasoning), obesity amongst others.

“These days, a lot of young people smoke a lot and indulge in the use of hard drugs, these hard drugs are diffused into their blood, which can lead to a heart attack. Some will claim they don’t smoke cigarettes but smoke shisha, which is more harmful than cigarettes. A lot of them drink alcohol excessively.

“Obesity is another risk factor because excess fat in the body can surround the heart, thereby not making it function as it is supposed to. High intake of sodium, which includes salt and seasoning are risk factors that can predispose a person to hypertension.

“Also, stress can predispose one to hypertension. When people are going through emotional and physical stress, they start experiencing poor sleep, which can lead to elevated blood pressure, however, this does not necessarily mean the person has hypertension,” she stated.

She further revealed that the major symptom, which indicates hypertension is the presentation of the blood pressure. A high blood pressure is the first sign of hypertension.

“The major way to detect hypertension is checking the blood pressure. Once the blood pressure is above 140/90, then the person is hypertensive. Other symptoms like restlessness, difficulty breathing, especially when lying down, heart palpitations, headache and chest pain are not specific to only hypertensive people, because they are noticeable in people with other medical conditions.

“In some complicated cases, they will experience swelling of the body, feet, kidney failure and heart failure. That’s why we encourage people to check their blood pressure regularly. Hypertension is a silent killer, the only way to discover it is to check your blood pressure. Most times, it doesn’t show signs, people go about living their normal lives without being aware they are hypertensive,” she said.

Regular blood pressure checkup, adequate use of medications, exercising and lifestyle modifications, according to Dr. Adeeko, are ways to prevent complications from hypertension like stroke, heart attack and sudden death.

“For someone to develop stroke, they are already hypertensive due to poor medication compliance. Some patients complain of the side effects of anti-hypertensive drugs. In rare cases, male patients complain of erectile dysfunction while in women it is low libido, some patients use this as an excuse to stop their medications.

“In this situation, the best thing is to talk to your doctor about any side effect and request for new sets of drugs that will work effectively with your body system.

“Also, it is best to avoid complications by checking one’s blood pressure regularly, exercising to reduce excess fat, stop smoking and consuming alcohol, reduce the intake of fatty foods/junks foods to reduce the cholesterol level in the body, reduce the intake of sodium (salt and seasoning), Eat fruits, vegetables and foods that contain potassium, magnesium and calcium. For instance, banana is rich in potassium,” she advised.