World Hypertension Day: Medical Doctor Advocates For Regular Checkups, Exercises

 

A certified lifestyle coach and medical doctor, Dr Chinasa Amadi has advocated for regular exercising and regular checkups as a means to stave the effect of hypertension.

Amadi spoke in an interview with 105.1 City FM on Tuesday morning monitored by Prime Business Africa as the world marks the World Hypertension Day with the theme of this year’s event being: ‘Measure Your Blood Pressure Accurately, Control It, Live Longer’

“We are growing. People are discovering that they are coping. It’s about diet, managing stress effectively, it’s about lifestyle, having greater implications then family history,” Dr. Amadi stated.

“We can see in Nigeria that we are not eating healthy. Most people have this mindset tha ” it’s not my portion” which is not a health strategy. We like to live on denials.

“It’s not called the ‘silent killer’ for nothing. Until the person starts having blurry vision, or heartbeat etc before they know that there’s a problem.

“Hypertension is not showing any early signs. Most people don’t show more than 128. Most recent clarification gave the number less than 120 and 180.

“If you don’t have family history and maintain healthy lifestyle, you can do it (checkups) once a month. But as Nigerians, many things can provoke these things.

“Exercises help to check hypertension. 150 minutes of moderate exercising is recommended for people. Be intentional. You can walk to your workplace 1km away if you went to work on commercial vehicles for instance. Stand three minutes to the hour at work. These things help,” Amadi added.

World Hypertension Day was first inaugurated in May 2005, and has become an annual event.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), blood pressure is the force exerted by circulating blood against the walls of the body’s arteries, the major blood vessels in the body. Hypertension is when blood pressure is too high.

Blood pressure is written as two numbers. The first (systolic) number represents the pressure in blood vessels when the heart contracts or beats. The second (diastolic) number represents the pressure in the vessels when the heart rests between beats.