On 28 September 2021, Xcene Research took part in sensitizing and raising awareness for World Heart Day through a webinar tagged “Use Heart To Beat Cardiovascular Disease.” Here are excerpts from thought-provoking presentations delivered by two of our speakers.
Dr. Folasade Olugbemi-Paul
Hypertension is BP >140/90 mmHg measured on at least 2 different occasions. It affects up to 20% of the population of the world, and 46% of African adults, but only 1/3rd of affected people are aware, with only 2/3rd of them on treatment.
In most cases no cause may be found for a person’s high blood pressure, however, some factors can trigger or increase the risk of developing this condition. These include:
- Being related to someone with hypertension
- Being obese
- Eating too much salty foods
- Drinking excessive alcohol
- Experiencing prolonged stress levels
- Smoking
- Living a sedentary lifestyle
Having other medical conditions such as diabetes or high cholesterol levels may also increase risk. Some of these risk factors have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in many people becoming less active due to being quarantined or working from home.
Once diagnosed with hypertension, measures must be taken to reduce the severity of the condition and prevent complications. These measures include
- Adjusting diet to contain less fat and salt
- increasing exercise
- Commencing medications and adhering strictly to the treatment prescribed by the doctor.
A person with hypertension should also make sure to follow up and attend all clinic visits as scheduled and do all investigations recommended to screen for complications and prevent them.
To effectively manage hypertension both the patient and their clinician must work together to balance medical and non-medical interventions to reduce morbidity and mortality of this condition.
While hypertension is still a major killer, it can be tackled through preventive interventions, such as home blood pressure management. This is how we’re overcoming COVID-19 and this is how we’ll tackle heart diseases.
Dr. Osas Osunde
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide with more than three quarters taking place in low and middle-income countries. Interventional strategies are focused on addressing behavioral risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet or lifestyle, obesity, physical inactivity, harmful or excessive alcohol use. The management of diabetes mellitus is having a direct impact on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) as diabetes mellitus is a prime risk factor.
For more information, please contact pr@xceneresearch.com.
Enlightening! Thanks for sharing 😁👍
Insightful webinar. Thanks for sharing these excerpts.