Nigeria Still Plagued By Low Awareness Of Stroke Risk Factors- Physicians
Physicians have raised concerns about low awareness of stroke risk factors among Nigerians, noting that despite being the second biggest killer globally, knowledge on how to possibly prevent or manage the medical condition is still relatively low.
They said people need to know that uncontrolled high blood pressure is not the only risk factor for coming down with stroke.
The medical experts said there are other causes of stroke other than uncontrolled hypertension, urging people with stroke to seek proper medical intervention and stop seeing the condition as a mystery.
One of the experts and a former National President, of the National Association of Resident Doctors, Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, said high blood pressure is not the only cause of stroke and taking hypertensive drugs doesn’t prevent stroke.
Dr. Okhuaihesuyi said, “Controlling your blood pressure doesn’t mean you are preventing yourself from having a stroke. High blood pressure is just one criteria for developing stroke.
“People need to do proper health checks at every time. Coming down with a stroke is not a mystery. There are different causes of stroke. Medication can help to reduce high blood pressure.”
Giving further insight into the causes of stroke, Dr. Okhuaihesuyi said all the things that can narrow blood vessels can also lead to stroke.
“Stroke can either be hemorrhagic or thrombotic. And just controlling your blood pressure does not mean you are controlling the thrombotic phenomenon that will occur with stroke.
“Because there are different causes of stroke, you need to be able to follow the causes to be able to lead a healthy life. In most patients above 50 with high blood pressure, we place them on Vasopril.
“Just taking ant-hypertensives is not enough to prevent stroke. You have to look at other causes. There is a need for regular health checks for people above 40 years at least once a year or every six months. Those are ways of preventing stroke”, he explained
The physician called for increased awareness on how to reduce stroke risks and also manage individuals with the condition.
He also urged the government to support people living with stroke.
According to the World Stroke Organisation, 90 per cent of strokes are associated with 10 risk factors that can easily be identified: hypertension, exercise, diet, weight, smoking, alcohol, cholesterol, diabetes, depression and stress, and atrial fibrillation (AF, or AFib).
The organisation says stroke can be prevented in many ways across all boards, from government and policymakers to healthcare professionals and members of the community.
It notes that stroke survivors live with long-term consequences such as disabilities and often manage their resulting limitations and health status as a chronic condition.
Meanwhile, a Consultant Pathologist, Dr. Michael Ajala, advised those with hypertension not to take drugs not prescribed for them by their doctors to avoid complications such as stroke.
The Chief Executive Officer of Help Diagnostics and Checkup Services, Lagos, also said hypertensive patients should avoid taking herbs and supplements as some of them have addictive actions.
The pathologist explained, “When you are taking antihypertensive drugs, don’t take herbs and supplements.
“Some of these things have addictive actions that may be damaging and will be bad for the health status of whoever is taking them.”
In a 2019 study published in Scientific Research Publishing, the researchers said stroke is one of the most common non-communicable diseases and the commonest cause of death in adult neurology wards.
Stroke prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa, they noted, has dramatically increased over the past decades possibly due to changing lifestyles, poverty, and poor health infrastructures which they said had led to increased risk factors for stroke.
“Poor nutrition and lack of access to standard medical care, predispose to high rates of stroke morbidity and mortality. Little is known about the prevalence of stroke in people with low socio-economic status in Nigeria,” the researcher mentioned.
Punch/Oyenike Oyeniyi
