Thursday 17 July 2014

One-third of Nigerians are hypertensive — Consultant


hypertensive
Professor Olumuyiwa Odusanya, a Consultant Public Health Physician, Lagos State University College of Medicine, Ikeja, yesterday said one-third of Nigerians were hypertensive.

Odusanya said this at the Ordinary General Meeting and Scientific Conference organised by the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.

The theme of the event was entitled: “Double Tragedy: Increasing Incidence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the Presence of Infectious Diseases“.

The consultant said many Nigerians were unaware they were hypertensive, stressing the need for increased awareness on preventive measures against NCDs.

“If you gather 100 Nigerians, about 30 may be hypertensive, even those we know are not on treatment. It is a big issue for the country, particularly, adults and so we need to be aware and continue to be on treatment and do things to prevent such diseases, “ he said.

He said continued policies from the three tiers of government, engagement, and encouraging people to exercise more were ways that would reduce intake of fatty foods.

“Government should do a lot in terms of looking at how people should limit the amount of salt they put in their food. We have got to reduce the amount of sugar in carbonated drinks, and we also need to see how we can make more available cholesterol free oils for people.These are the policies we need to take, “ he said.

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