Just Monitor It!

As at February 2015, an estimated 28 million people in Nigeria suffered from High Blood Pressure. That was 1 in every 6 people of a population of 181 million at the time. Please note that this number refers only to diagnosed and documented cases.

While you may not always be able to trace the cause of hypertension, you can track your blood pressure, whether or not you are hypertensive. This means you can monitor things to know how well your prescription medications are doing (if you need to talk to your healthcare personnel about a regulation of your dose or a complete change in your drug regimen) and the effects of diet, stress, sleep or lack of it, etc on your blood pressure.

What you don't know can't hurt you right? Wrong. Monitoring your blood pressure is crucial because high blood pressure, in the majority of people, is asymptomatic. The danger in this is that prolonged elevated blood pressure has crippling effects on the kidney, the brain and the heart. Yikes. Most strokes are related to uncontrolled hypertension. Sadly, for many, the damage to these organs is already extensive by the time they figure out that something is wrong.

A simple routine can mitigate these risks: just monitor your blood pressure. This is even more urgent for those with a family history of hypertension. Not monitoring it does not take away what is already there. It amplifies the risk of falling victim to the effects of an uncontrolled condition.

Monitoring your blood pressure couldn't be easier today. You don't have to visit the doctor's office or pharmacy every time you want to know your numbers. An easy-to-use Digital Blood Pressure Monitor can help you do it at home within minutes. Simply hook it up and you're good to go (see the guide below culled from the Centre For Disease Control & Prevention).

What's the excuse again?

There's more good news though (it's not all gloom and doom!). For those with a family history of hypertension, you can lower your risk by incorporating Fish Oil into your diet. This helps prevent the build up of bad cholesterol in your blood vessels, enabling seamless blood flow and lowering the risk of an elevated blood pressure and stroke (yes, for those who are wondering, there is good cholesterol. Keep your eyes glued on this space because we'll be talking about it soon).

Fish Oil is also very helpful in already high blood pressure. M.C Morris, F Sacks and B Rosner of the Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, conducted a study that demonstrates the ability of Fish Oil to lower systolic blood pressure by 4.5mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 2.2mmHg in people already diagnosed as hypertensive.

If you're already hypertensive, please remember to cut back on sodium, alcohol and tobacco, exercise and work on bringing your weight down to healthy levels if overweight.

Above all, listen to the advice of your healthcare provider, while keeping them abreast of your day to day blood pressure. How do you do that? Just monitor it!