NAN-HG-59
BP
Keffi (Nasarawa State), Sept. 13, 2017 (NAN) A Professor of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapeutics, University of Jos, Steven Gyang, has advised Nigerians on the need to always check their Blood Pressure (BP).
The don spoke on Wednesday at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Keffi at a workshop on ‘Clerkship skills Development; Applied Pharmacy Therapy’.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the workshop was ‘Applied Pharmacy Therapy of Cardiovascular Diseases’.
Gyang said that most people with high blood pressure were not usually aware that they had the condition until they went through the BP test.
According to him, hypertension is a condition in which the systemic BP of an adult aged 18 and above is persistently above 140/90 in a non diabetic and 130/80 in a diabetic person following three consecutive tests.
He said the test was meant for 18 years and above, adding that it was necessary to be careful while announcing to patients that they had hypertension to avoid causing more damage to the system.
Gyang listed the symptoms of hypertension to include headache, dizziness, easy fatigue, tension of the neck.
He said: “when hypertension sets in, it invades diabetics. Signs are persistent elevated BP.
“Some drugs we take cause hypertension. Oral contraceptives, which some ladies take cause it while excessive salt can also result in the condition.
“Checking is done to ensure that BP is maintained below 140/90 or 130/80MMHG. When it is confirmed that a patient has hypertension, he should reduce stress and stop smoking”.
Gyang, who said that stress had been identified as the major cause of hypertension, added that once a person started taking drugs, he or she should not stop.
According to him, the theme of the workshop is timely, considering the rampant cases of drug abuse.
“What we want to achieve is that professional development should be a continuous thing so that practising pharmacists will be acquainted with the improved ways of carrying out their services.
“The essence of pharmacy practice is for patients to have optimal benefit of their medication and if they don’t get that there may be some other challenging issues of concern to the pharmacists.
“When they have adequate knowledge of drug management, they would be able to impact positively on their clients,’’ he said.
Also speaking, the Emir of Keffi, Dr Shehu Yamusa, noted that pharmacy in any health facility, “is a ‘sine-qua-non’, as it is the bedrock of the health sector”. NAN
MRY/NNO/YEMI
Edited by Nick Nicholas/Yemi Idris-Aduloju