PREVENTION OF HYPERTENSION

 Prevention of Hypertension. 

It is first important to note that it is almost impossible to prevent what you do not know about. To prevent a monster from entering your house for example, you have to know its strategies and which route it enters people's houses,  either by the window, roof, wall or by the door. In a lighter mood, I am trying to say that you need a handful of knowledge of whatever you want to do away with.

So let's start with the definition; What is hypertension? It is the force in the blood vessels the heart needs to overcome to pump blood through the body. It can be likened to increased pressure in pipes of water making the pump work harder and harder to get water to the site it is needed. The pipes are blood vessels while the pump is the heart. It's that simple.

Hypertension is quite common these days, among both young and old alike. I can boldly guess that 4 out of every 10 people on the street are hypertensive, well that's just a hypothesis. Hypertension is very common. Researches says that More than 1.5 million cases per year (Nigeria) are seen

AGES AFFECTED

Babies (0-2 years): very rare

Toddlers (3-5 years): very rare

Children (6-13 years): rare

Teenagers (14-18 years): rare

Young adults (19-40 years): common

Adults (41-60 years): very common

Seniors (60+ years): very common.

Note the prevalence in young adults and understand that hypertension is no longer the disease of the old.

Now, according to American College of Cardiology 2018, someone is judged to have normal blood pressure with at a value not greater than 120-129/<80. Anything above these values is termed hypertension. Some years back it was the value greater than 140/90 that is termed hypertension, but it was discovered that even at this value, stroke and kidney damages may occur. 

Who are those at risk of hypertension?

1. African American descent. 

2. Men above 40 years. 

3. Women at menopause. 

4. Those with Family history of hypertension. 

5. Obese persons. 

6. Person with a Sedentary lifestyle. (Physical inactivity)

7. Those who take alcohol or smoke 

There are other risk factors of hypertension including some diseases that can themselves lead to hypertension, like kidney diseases, congenital or acquired heart disease and some blood vessel diseases.

Finally, let's move to prevention of hypertension. 

Here are a few tips to help you prevent hypertension. 

1. Ask yourself a few questions. Is it in my family? Am I at risk?. This is just a self assessment. 

2. Avoid inactivity, get on to work out, lift your body and do regular intentional exercise. 

3. Lose some weights if your BMI is more than 30.

4. Reduce salt intake in food and on the table. 

5. Reduce cholesterol in diet, boil more and fry less.

6. Prefer vegetable oil to groundnut oil or palm oil.

7. Take in more fruits and vegetables. 

8. Focus on antioxidants intake. Check labels of food and choose the one with less junk but more antioxidants. 

9. Check your blood pressure regularly and note the valves. 

10. Hold nothing to heart, avoid emotional stress.

11. In pregnancy, register early for antenatal care and attend clinic 

12. If you have been diagnosed with kidney or heart disease, follow your doctor's regimen and attend your clinic. 

Hypertension is preventable and little things as above are needed. This Same list plus regular intake of prescribed medications will prevent it from getting worse in those who are already diagnosed.