By Jonathan Ugbal
The Cross River State government and health sector stakeholders say there is need for its indigenes and residents to adjust lifestyle choices in a bid to fight diseases attributed to lifestyle choices with the most prevalent being hypertension.
The Commissioner for Health, Inyang Asibong led the call Friday, in Calabar when she, upon her arrival from Abuja after attending a stakeholders session on Diarrhea and other related tropical diseases, led a team of staff of the Health Ministry to the Lutheran church at Nelson Mandela street in Calabar for a medical outreach program to celebrate the world hypertensive and asthmatic day.
Asibong told CrossRiverWatch that “the main message we are passing out today is that people really need to adjust their style of living as diseases such as hypertension are related to lifestyle choices. Though one has to read above the ceiling point for adults three consecutive times before we can say the person is hypertensive, the checks being carried out here shows a prevalence of high blood pressure as about 80 percent checked have high blood pressure.”
Also, she said the decision to copy the lifestyle of developed nations has greatly impacted on the prevalence of high blood pressure and termed it an epideological transition.
She called on people to, through the DASH (Dietary Advise to Stop Hypertension) increase the percentage of fruits and vegetables in their food, exercise daily for periods longer than 30 minutes, and decrease the percentage intake of oily and salty foods to stop the rise in prevalence.
However, Asibong said though Asthma was not a lifestyle disease, there was need for patients and others to regularly attend medical checkups.
Rose Ugbe, a health practitioner in Bekwarra local government area in a telephone chat with CrossRiverWatch said there is need to really look into the issue of enlightenment of the masses to ensure the rise in prevalence of the incidence is halted and reversed.
“Nowadays, you find youths aged 25 and less coming down with hypertension, this is due to their lifestyle choices. It is factual that some of them do not know the hazards of their choice of food and beverage but I hasten to add that others who know just do it probably due to addiction or feign ignorance.
“However, all hands must be on deck to ensure the people are properly enlightened on the issues of hypertension, sustained high blood pressure and of course not forgetting asthma, how it can be managed properly.”
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