When I was younger I kept a moustache so that I could look older, when I was older I shaved it off so that I could look younger.
It’s the irony of life that we always seek what we don’t have, and when we, get it we no longer want it as much as we did.
In fact in many cases we then seek that which we had discarded earlier in preference for what we now have.
Nowhere is this truer than in our pursuit for wealth and success.
If you are one of those people who is indifferent to wealth and success, you are a better man or woman than most of us.
This desire is so strong in most of us, that if we cannot achieve it ourselves, we will claim it by association.
So when our long forgotten neighbour becomes a success we will claim that he is our relative.
When a man with the same surname as us becomes successful, even though, we have never met him, we will claim him to be a cousin.
This desire is so strong that it is pursued to the detriment of our health. Wealth and health are uneasy bedfellows.
Our health is always easily sacrificed for wealth.
However often only when people become wealthy or successful do they realise that they should have paid more attention to their health, because in fact the greatest wealth is good health.
One of the common health risks among those that are successful or wealthy in Africa is BP or High Blood Pressure, or in more Medical terms Hypertension.
Whereas in the past it was believed that high blood pressure was low in Africans, because of the lifestyle and food this is no longer the case.
In fact Africans have a particularly difficult form of High Blood Pressure,that is especially stubborn to treatment.
When the Arabs began trading with Africa on the East Coast one key trade item was salt.
In the 1970s before many spices were common on the dining tables in Zambian families there was salt. After salt came curry. I remember growing up that at Christmas time everything had a heavy tinge of yellow and salt flowed freely round the table.
Quite a number of studies have shown that Africans and African Americans have a high consumption and sensitivity to salt which has predisposed them to a high level of BP or Hypertension.
A couple of studies done by Goma and Siziya in Lusaka,Kasama and Koama have shown a high level of Hypertension in Lusaka at over 35%.
This means that roughly among every 3 people working in an office in Lusaka one of them has High Blood Pressure.
In the less urbanised towns of Kasama and Kaoma, the figuresare only slightly less at 30% and 26% respectively.
This is higher than what is found in neighbouring countries like Tanzania.
The risk of stroke or cardiovascular accident is 15 times higher in Africans than Caucasians.
With the change in lifestyle and eating habits have come the diseases of developed countries and high blood pressure is one of the leading ones.
1. What causesHigh BP or Hypertension?
2.How can I know if I have High BP?
3.What can I do to control my Blood Pressure?
1.What causes BP or Hypertension?
Perhaps we should answer the more basic question, what is Blood Pressure(BP).The term is commonly used, but perhaps less commonly understood.
An impression is sometimes given, that if you need to be absent from work always say my BP has shot up.
It is a difficult thing to disprove.
For this reason any feeling of irritations is explained by a raised BP. So, what is the BP and what is its importance in the body.
The blood pressure is the force with which the blood circulates around the body. This force is necessary to transport blood around the body, and allow all body parts to get the necessary nutrients and oxygen for them to survive.
The pump that generates this force is the heart.
In the same way a water pump is used to circulate water around on a commercial farm for example.
So, if this is the case, what can go wrong with this system. Well the force or Blood Pressure can become too low or too high.
The normal range of Blood Pressure required to achieve adequate blood circulation can vary but on average is around 140 over 90 millimetres of pressure (or mercury- a measure of pressure).
The next obvious question, is way are there 2 readings of the body pressure?
Well simply put this signifies the maximum pressure of the heart pump at full force(Systolic Pressure about 140mmHg) and the minimum pressure, with the heart at rest(Diastolic Pressure 90mmHg).
When the Diastolic Blood pressure is raised this is a more serious sign of a truly raised Blood pressure. It means the heart is resting very little.
When the blood Pressure is low this is quite easily recognised because a person will faint or simply not be able to function at all.
For this reason low blood pressure is an emergency and quickly lands you on a hospital bed.
However unfortunately when the Blood Pressure is high it mostly gives no symptoms. Back to our question, what causes a raised BP?
The heart tries to ensure that the body receives adequate blood to all the tissues. It has sensors in all the vessels to ensure that this is achieved.
When the blood vessels narrow due to age, or other reasons, the body senses that the blood flow to the cells is low.
This sends a signal to the Brain to raise the pressure in the heart pump, ultimately this leads to a rise in Blood pressure.
So what are the reasons that may lead to the narrowing of the blood vessels. The commonest reasons are deposition of fat in the walls of the blood vessel that then narrows the lumen.
When, we eats fatty foods and exercises very little the body begins to store some of that extra fat in the walls of the blood vessels causing narrowing.
Other things that are responsible for narrowing of blood vessels, are ageing ,stress, sugar disease and kidney disease.
Ageing causes hardening of the vessels and narrowing. Stress, produces stress chemicals that make the blood vessels contract and the heart beat faster, both of which increase the Blood Pressure.
Sugar Disease leads to excess sugar which the body converts to fat and deposits in the blood vessel wall.
The Kidney is a particularly clever organ, it needs good blood supply always.
Whenever the Kidney sensors indicate a decline in the amount of blood supplied , it does something about it.
The kidney,releases chemicals substances to improve the blood supply, these chemicals make the Blood Pressure go up.
In Africans, in particular there appears to be abnormalities in managing salt and these Renal chemicals.
With increased salt in the blood more fluid is held in the blood vessels and this increases the force of heart contractions, and therefore the blood pressure.
These abnormalities seem to make BP more prevalent in Africans than Caucasians.
2. How can I know if I have BP?
More than 2 out of 3 people who have a high BP do not know it.
Given the very high rates of BP observed in in Zambian studies a lot higher than in many developed countries, there is a good chance that if you are over 35years and are reading this article, you are likely to be Hypertensive.
The biggest problem with Hypertension is that it gives very few or no symptoms even when it is very high.so the best way to know if you are Hypertensive is to have your blood pressure checked at least once a year if you are over 35 years old. However there are occasionally a few tell-tale things that a person with a raised Blood Pressure may complain off.
The most common is a headache.
This may be a throbbing headache, in front or at the back of the headache. It may also cause ringing in the ears, as if water is running through some pipes at the back of your head.
Some people will feel unsteady on their feet and will find themselves unable to stand for long periods of time.
Beware of the man who faints during a church service, he may be mistaken for having a religious experience, when in fact he has a raised blood pressure.
When the Blood Pressure rises some small blood vessels may burst, this may manifest as nasal bleeding or occasionally blood in the sperms. Beware of chest pain, especially if it radiates to the tip of the left shoulder and is episodic.
With a rising Blood pressure some people complain of numbness in the hands and feet.
Many will also complain of unusual tiredness, sleeping too long and being short ofbreath.
Another common complaint is muscle cramp after climbing some stairs.
Look out for persistent visualdifficulties,visual flashes which appear within your vision and throb.
However always remember that most often high blood pressure is completely silent.
3. What can I do to control my BP?
Perhaps we should ask the more obvious question, what happens if I just carry on with business as usual.
This questions is not impractical because many people do. In fact, many people, men in particular, hold the rather cavalier view that if it does not hurt don’t fix it.
With this view most men avoid the hospital, the way children avoid school. Knowing they have to go, but resisting as much as they can until someone makes them go.
Unfortunately this attitude plays right into the hands of a most unforgiving illness. Hypertension is a disease that can do great harm to men and their families, just at the peak of their careers.
It often strikes just when that business prospective is ripe, when all your career aspirations are about to bear fruit.
A High Blood Pressure, when leftunattended eats away at the small blood vessels in the body, clogging them the way an electric kettle gets caked with calcium after repeated use.
This has the danger of damaging three vital organs that need good blood supply all the time.
These are the Brain, the Heart and the Kidneys. So business as usual will earn you a Stroke, a Heart attack and Kidney failure.
If you say perhaps let me give it a second thought.
Then, there are 3 key factors to keep in mind with controlling your Blood pressure and they all start with S.
1. Reduce Salt
2. Reduce Sugar
3. Reduce Stress.
You are especially at risk if there is history of High Blood Pressure in the family or history of a Stroke in your immediate family.
Other risk factors are being over 35years, Africa(which most of us are) and a little over weight (A quick evaluation is to measure your waist with a tape, then measure the tummy at the belly button: the tummy should be less than the waist).
If you are in the habit of adding salt to all your food stop, minimise the amount of salt you take in your food.
Stop or reduce the amount of sugar, cakes, bread, potatoes and pastries you take.
This increases your sugar level and eventually it is converted to fat which begins the cycle of BP disease.
Take more vegetables and fish. Roast your food or cook it rather than fry it. Reduce your exposure to stress.
Accept that stress is inevitable, but minimise the level of worry and anxiety to which we needlessly subject ourselves due toself-abuse (or more precisely ambition).
Spend some time being happy with your achievements, you are not in a race with anyone. Exercises more, develop some hobbies, spend time taking your holidays and with family.
You don’t have to do all the work alone, leave some for the next generation.
High blood pressure can also be controlled by tablets which slow done the heart, block the kidney chemicals mentioned earlier, widen the blood vessels and reduce the volume of water in the blood.
Take you medicines faithfully if these are prescribed. Finally take one small tablet of Aspirin (75mgs) a day it will clean out your blood vessels and keep them from getting clogged.