Hypertension, commonest cardiovascular disorder, says Cardiologist

A medical practitioner, Dr
Anthony Adimekwe, on Friday described
hypertension as the commonest
cardiovascular disorder, as well as the
number one cause of life-long drug
treatment.
Adimekwe, a Resident Cardiologist in the
Department of Internal Medicine,
University of Calabar Teaching Hospital
(UCTH), disclosed this during an
interview with the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
According to him, there is an urgent
need to promote public awareness of
hypertension and to encourage the
public to prevent and control this `silent-
killer'.
The World Hypertension Day (WHD) is
commemorated on May 17, every year.
The theme for the 2013 event is
"Healthy Heart Beat – Healthy Blood
Pressure''.
According to the cardiologist,
hypertension is an increase in blood
pressure to a level that can damage
body organs. It is commonly known as
High Blood Pressure.
"Hypertension has to do with an
increase in the level of blood pressure. It
has to be high to such a level that it can
damage body organs.
"In medicine, that level has been defined
to be greater than or equal to
140/90mmHg of blood pressure, as
measured using a sphygmomanometer,
on a person's arm. Hypertension usually
has no symptoms.
"However, to diagnose hypertension,
this raised blood pressure must be seen
to be consistently raised at three
consecutive measurements, taken at
least one day apart from each other," he
said.
Adimekwe noted that the prevalence
rate of hypertension in the country was
about 32.8 per cent.
"In Nigeria, a recent rural and semi-
urban community-based study in Enugu
State puts the prevalence of
hypertension in Nigeria at a range
between 32.8 per cent and 46.2 per
cent.
"While a meta-analytical study published
recently in the well-respected online
PubMed publication
(www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmed/23272273 ) estimates the
nationwide prevalence to be between
8%- 46.4%," he said.
The cardiologist identified two major
types of hypertension.
"There are two types of hypertension.
There is the primary and the secondary
hypertension. The Primary constitutes
about 95 per cent of the cases, while the
Secondary is about five per cent.
"Primary hypertension is largely genetic
and hereditary; thus, it runs in families.
"However, the predisposing factors of
hypertension include too much intake of
salt, alcohol, absence of fruits and green
vegetables in the diet, lack of exercise,
living a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, and
many other factors.