Cardiologist and Director of Sir Buri Kidu Heart Foundation, Professor Sir Isi Kevau, has urged Papua New Guineans to check blood pressure weekly or monthly at the hospital to avoid diseases such as stroke. He made this statement during the commemoration of World Hypertension Day on Wednesday, 17th May at the Port Moresby General Hospital. “In the internal medicine statistics, when we look at the statistics, there are two trees. One tree is called TB, HIV AIDS, representing the infectious diseases. The other tree is called lifestyle disease. And in the lifestyle disease, the number one condition is called stroke. And guess what? The number one cause of that stroke is called hypertension, followed by coronary artery disease, heart attack, followed by diabetes, and kidney problems and kidney failures.” “I see patients in everyday ward rounds and right now in the medical ward, there's about 20 patients with stroke. What does stroke mean? It means that one side of the brain is dead. And if that brain is affected by hypertension, which is the commonest cause, then the opposite part of the body is not going to be functional,” he explained.
He emphasised that those diagnosed with hypertension must take blood pressure tablets for the rest of their lives and if they miss out and have a stroke, there’s nothing much that can be done. “My message to all the children, all the young people who have parents who looked after them, if you can buy a blood pressure machine, take the blood pressure, and make sure that whoever is on blood pressure tablets must be helped. No missing days of antihypertensive agents. So, look after yourself, look after your parents, look after your family and the future of everybody. Take your blood pressure if you can go to the hospital and take your blood pressure medications all the time, so that you avoid stroke and life goes on.” Also speaking about hypertension and its symptoms was Dr Benjamin Daur, a paediatrician and chairman of PMGH’s Health Awareness Committee. “Hypertension is mostly asymptomatic, meaning that a lot of people that have hypertension do not know they have hypertension. Why? because the symptoms do not show until your blood pressure gets very high. So, if your blood pressure gets very high, like around 160, 170, you would usually start to feel dizzy to start having headaches, and you'd be tired for long periods like hours or days. If you do feel those symptoms, always come to the hospital to get your blood pressure checked,” he said. He added that a lot of people in the communities do not know that they have hypertension until they have a stroke, get very sick or they come to the emergency and are surprised that they've been walking around with a very high blood pressure. Speaking on ways to reduce blood pressure was Ambulatory Coordinator, Dr Andrew Ame. He spoke of the type of foods to eat, always remembering to keep your weight in check and managing stress. “These are some of the things we can do to reduce our blood pressure. One of them is eating well, including include a lot of fruits and vegetables in your diet. Try and eat a fish diet. Take your weight. Try not to be overweight. Always check your weight. And if you feel that you're overweight, you should do your best to reduce your weight and try to manage your stress,” he emphasised. World Hypertension Day is celebrated annually on 17 May and is dedicated to increasing awareness about hypertension and the access to early detection and management. This year’s theme is ‘Measure your blood pressure accurately, Control it, Live longer.’ Follow latest Health news and Jobs & Scholarships on : PNG Health Watch Also read Comments are closed.
|
Papua New Guinea Breaking NewsPapua New Guinea daily News updates Let Your Voice be heard: Submit your news articles, commentaries, letters , Photos, Media Releases etc to us on this email: pngfacts@gmail.com
Mining & PetroleumTop Links |