Dr. Fatimah Mairami, a doctor with a private hospital in Abuja, on Tuesday advised Nigerians to check their blood pressure every three months, to prevent sudden and avoidable deaths.
Mairami said this while delivering a health talk on hypertension and diabetes to members of staff of the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.
She, however, advised hypertensive patients to check their blood pressure once in two weeks or once a month, depending on the individual.
She said: “It is recommended that you check your blood pressure every three months when you get to the hospital, after a certain stage if you are normal you can extend it to six months.
“But If you have high blood pressure the doctor will keep a close eye on you and ask you to come every two weeks, every month or if you are on medication and it is well controlled he can let you come every three months to have it checked.”
Mairami said that hypertension was when a person’s blood pressure was higher than normal, while diabetes was a condition when a person’s sugar level was high.
The doctor said that hypertension and diabetes were common medical conditions people suffered from hence the need to regularly go for checkup.
“This diseases creep in little by little, so it is advisable to check regularly so you do not collapse and die one day,” she said.
She said that some risk factors of these two conditions included obesity and smoking, adding: “People that are overweight, the heart will need to work twice as much to pump blood to the body.
“If you are obese, because of the high cholesterol, it would narrow the blood vessels, making it difficult for blood to get to the other parts of the body.”
The doctor said that smoking damages the blood vessels and cells.
Mairami said that people who lived sedentary lifestyles were also at risk of becoming hypertensive, adding that people should learn to be more active and engage in physical exercise.
The gynaecologist, however, said that people who had a family history of hypertension or diabetes where also prone to having any of the conditions.
She advised people to check their blood pressure before they engaged in any form of exercise to ensure it was normal and to avoid heart failure in the process.
She said: “Do not start with vigorous exercise if you are hypertensive.
“Exercise should be done gradually, so that your heart can keep up with the pace.”
Also speaking at the event, NAN’s acting Assistant Director Admin, Gbemisola Babalola, said the staff of the agency should take responsibility for their health as facilities had been made available in the office to enable them to exercise their bodies and stay healthy and fit.
Babalola also advised members of staff present to share what they had learnt at the health talk with family and friends.
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