As Nigeria joined the world to mark this
year’s World Hypertension Day, which took
place during the week, a manufacturer of
medical equipment for health monitoring
and therapy, Omron, has advised Nigerians
on moderating salt intake and monitoring
their blood pressure regularly.
To commemorate the day, an associate
professor at the College of Medicine,
University of Lagos, Dr. Amam Mbakwem,
had said that every Nigerian should be at
alert because the number of people with
hypertension is increasing daily.
She also said that more black people have
hypertension than the whites because the
blacks tend to take too much salt.
She said, “We tend to consume more salt
because of our climate. We sweat a lot and
so we require more salt to balance up. But
once too much salt is in the system, it
triggers high blood pressure.
“Hypertension is one subject every Nigerian
should be aware of because the numbers
are increasing in our nation. About fifteen to
twenty years ago, the statistics was about
11 per cent of Nigerian adults that had
hypertension. These days, we are looking at
figures over 30 per cent.”
Commenting on this development, the
Country Manager for Omron Healthcare
Nigeria, Olugbenga Abiodun, said that what
is more worrisome is that most of these
Nigerians are unaware of
their blood pressure levels or numbers.
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