A consultant Cardiologist, Dr Ramon Moronkola, has urged government at all levels and Non-Governmental Organizations to carry out massive educational campaigns on Blood Pressure (BP), particularly in the rural communities.
Moronkola, who works with the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), gave the advice in an interview on Friday in Lagos.
He said there was high level of ignorance and lack of adequate knowledge by community dwellers on when to check their blood pressure or how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
According to him, high blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases particularly stroke and heart attack; which are leading causes of death in the society now.
Moronkola emphasised the need for elderly Nigerians to regularly check their BP in order to identify and address critical conditions that might result to death.
He explained that there was usually the issue of blood clotting among the advanced elderly adults, which was mainly due to their age.
He added that blood clotting prevented blood from circulating through the veins and vessels of the body, causing high blood pressure among the elderly.
The cardiologist, therefore, advised that every family should have the blood pressure testing apparatus, to enable the elderly ones in the family keep a regular check on their BP.
“Let every family endeavour to have the BP testing apparatus; if you’re having headache or your heart beats so fast – try to check your BP.
“As an adult, try to avoid the class of foods that can trigger risk factors of BP like high cholesterol level, diabetes, high sugar levels or excessive weight and always engage in active physical activities.
“Eat more of fruits and vegetables; avoid stress, avoid salty foods especially adding salt when food is already done and take enough rest,” he said.
He restated that stress remained a major cause of high blood pressure and sudden death among Nigerian adults.
According to him, mental health instability, often triggered by the economic situation and hardships in the country, can equally cause high blood pressure.
He, therefore, urged the Federal Government to intensify effort to stabilise the economy and provide the citizens with the basic necessities of life.
He said, “This will go a long way to ease a whole lot of burdens on the people and equally reduce stress in the country.
“Obviously, there’s too much stress in the country; which is already taking a toll on the lives of the citizens.
“The cost of living is high; people toil day and night to make a living; they go to bed late, and as early as 3:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m., they have to jump out of bed in order to meet up with the day’s activities.
“For residents in cities like Lagos, they will leave home very early in order not to be trapped in traffic gridlock,” Moronkola said.
NAN
