By Desire Emmanuel
A Consultant Cardiologist with the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Dr Adisa Adams, has decried the increasing number of young adults in their 30s being diagnosed with hypertension, describing the condition as a threat to their lives and future.
Adams disclosed this on Sunday, as he added that high blood pressure used to be mostly an issue of the mature and old folk starting from 50 year, but now, young people between the ages of 28 to 35 are now found to be hypertensive patients
A report from the World Health Organisation shows that no fewer than 1.3 billion adults globally live with hypertension, with nearly half unaware of their condition and only one in five achieving controlled blood pressure.
In Nigeria, the situation is dire, with studies showing that approximately 25 per cent of emergency hospital admissions in urban areas stem from hypertension-related complications such as stroke, kidney failure, and heart attacks.
However, Adams, who described hypertension as a silent killer, added that it was now common among young people unlike before when people of 50 years and above were seen with hypertension.
According to him, the death of most young Nigerians can be linked to heart-related challenges caused by undetected and unmanaged hypertension.
He said: “There have been instances of young Nigerians dying with cardiovascular/heart-related diseases. In my earlier years of practice, high blood pressure is mostly an issue of the mature and old folk starting from 50 years, but now, we see 28 to 35-year-old hypertensive patients.”
Adams, who decried the rate of sudden deaths among Nigerian young adults, blamed the development on young life mentality syndrome and lack of preventive measures among the younger people.
He added that lack of proper information and education about the disease were other contributing factors.
“The first issue with the younger generation is the false and unwise belief that they are young and thus, do not need to regularly check themselves.
“The second is the fact that they are not taking preventive measures well as they lack of public information and sensitisation about the dangers associated with hypertension and even low blood pressure,” he said.
The cardiologist advised that young adults should embrace preventive measures and lifestyle changes that could help to live healthy life and thereby curb the prevalence of hypertension.
He advised Nigerians to imbibe the culture of going for medical checkups from the age of 28, as absence of symptoms did not mean it wasn’t present.
“We have had some cases of young men dying of cardiac arrest during a tennis match, while jogging, and even as they went to bed. This could have been prevented if they knew they had heart problems.
“When you do a comprehensive health assessment, abnormalities in the body may be detected and corrected,” he said.
