HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE (HYPERTENSION); WHAT YOU MUST KNOW

High blood pressure is a trait rather than disease and quantitative rather than qualitative.

Therefore, any definition of hypertension is arbitrary.
According to principle and practice of medicine written by Davidson; 'practical definition of hypertension is the level of blood pressure at which benefits of treatment outweigh the costs and hazard'.

Hypertension as a condition is asymptomatic (no symptoms) but long standing and untreated one has adverse effects on some organs in the body. These are called target organs;
BRAIN- where it can cause stroke and other brain conditions.
KIDNEY
BLOOD VESSELS,
EYE-Retinopathy
HEART

Hypertension is said to be primary or secondary. the primary is essential and accounts for 90 percent of people living with hypertension and this type has no known causes but there are risk factors.

NON MODIFIABLE RISK FACTORS
Age- above 40 year in men and after menopause in women

Sex- men are more predisposed than women

Race- more in black

Family history- more risk with people who have family history of hypertension.

MODIFIABLE RISK FACTORS

High salt intake

Heavy consumption of alcohol

Obesity

Lack of exercise

Impaired intrauterine growth

Smoking

High blood cholesterol

very little evidence of stress as a risk factor

This is where you come in and why i am writing this article. These modifiable factors are something we can reduce or completely remove out of our lives.
And if you are addicted to either smoking or alcohol you need to seek help.

Secondary hypertension are caused by disease in the body like vascular disease, hormonal disease, sometime diabetes and many more. But the scope of secondary hypertension is beyond this discussion.

If you are already hypertensive, you need to know that there is no permanent cure but if you are drug and hospital compliant, it is less risky and very cheap to manage.

Avoid self medication and always discus your problems with your doctor.

BREAST CANCER; WHAT YOU MUST KNOW

Breast cancer is the presence of abnormal, destructive, invasive and multiplying cells in the breast.
These cells could also travel out of the breast to other organs like liver, lungs and bones via blood vessels and lymphatic drainage.
Breast tumors are generally divided into two; benign tumor and malignant tumor are called cancer.
Benign tumors are generally not invasive and destructive but unfortunately they can become malignant if not detect early.
The purpose of this article to tell you how you can prevent cancer and how you detect it early enough, because early detection reduces the number of death related cancer of breast.

The actual cause of cancer still remains unknown but the risk factors were already identified.

The risk factors are divided in two broad groups;

NON MODIFIABLE FACTORS

Age

Family history; this is hereditary factor, some genes BRCA1&2 are known to be associated with cancer of breast. So if there is anybody that have cancer from first degree family members, you have higher risk of having it than the general population.

Menarche; age of first menses, if less than 12 years

Menopause; age of last menses, if too late

Cancer affecting other parts of the body.

Sex; more common in woman, but men can also have breast cancer.

MODIFIABLE RISK FACTORS

Diet; food that contain too much fat has been associated with breast cancer.

Alcohol

Drugs; estrogen containing like contraceptive pills, hormonal replacement therapy, drug containing rauwolfia compounds and thyroid hormones containing drugs.

Smoking

Null parity; woman that have given birth before, this could either be modifiable or non modifiable.

Late primigravida; age of your first pregnancy and breast feeding habit could contribute to you having breast cancer. Getting married and having baby early help. Women that refused to breast their baby in the first six month stand higher risk.

Try as much as possible to avoid the modifiable risk factors and if you are involved with them please stop.

HOW I CAN DETECT BREAST LUMP OR CANCER EARLY AND AVOID DEATH RELATED BREAST CANCER.

You have to obey the principle of ‘LOOK AND TOUCH‘

Every morning stand in front of your mirror and observe;

SIZE, SHAPE AND SKIN COLOR OF YOUR BREAST; Check if both breasts are bilaterally symmetrical. See if there are any changes in skin color.

DIMPLING, ULCERATION, NIPPLE DISCHARGE OR RETRACTION; Look for any of these and ensure they are not present.

Then use your right hand to gently examine your left breast looking presence of lump and try to elicit if there is any tenderness. You can also express the nipple to see if there is any discharge. Repeat the same thing for the other breast using the opposing hand.

If you notice any lump or abnormalities you have to see your doctor for the next line of management.

LOW BACK PAIN, WHAT YOU MUST KNOW

More than 70% of people at one time or the other will experience low back pain in the life time.

Low back pain could be caused by so many things;

diseases (like infections, rheumatoid arthritis, neoplasm, metabolic bone disease, degenerative disease, disc problems and others), trauma and commonly our careless way of life.

However this article is not about the causes but how you can prevent it from happening.

These are some life modification that can help in avoiding low back pain.

Avoid standing or sitting in a particular position for too a long time.

Ensure your back is well rested while sitting.

Don't bend to pick anything from the ground, you either squat or kneel.

Avoid bending your back when you are about to sleep.

Get a good and comfortable sleeping mattress.

Drink a lot of water, minimum of 3L per day.

Ensure regular exercise, at least once in a week.

Finally, if you are already having low back pain you need to consult a doctor.

The doctor can then decide if you will need, back muscle strengthening exercise with analgesia, epidural steroid injection or surgery.

You are free to contact me for more information.