Untreated hypertension can lead to permanent brain damage, Dr Aba Folson, a Cardiologist at the International Maritime Hospital (IMaH) in Tema, has said.
Untreated hypertension can lead to multi-infarct dementia. This type of dementia is caused by blood flow problems in the brain from strained blood vessels, which can kill brain tissues and cause serious memory problems to develop.
Dr Folson said this at the weekly ‘Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility! A Ghana News Agency initiative aimed at promoting health-related communication and providing a platform for health information dissemination to influence personal health choices through improved health literacy
She added that the situation could further lead to permanent memory loss, which is a manifestation of cognitive decline.
‘Cognitive decline means your thinking, awareness, and analytical power are all dependent on how your brain functions,’ she stated.
She added that having uncontrolled hypertension can silently damage many parts of the body, including the brain, blood vessels, heart, kidneys, and a lot more.
The IMaH Cardiologist explained that although the disease could not be cured, through medication or lifestyle changes like diet, weight loss, and exercise, the impairment symptoms would be managed or improved.
She added that hypertension was known to be one of the biggest risk factors for dementia and other health conditions and urged Ghanaians to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Speaking on the topic, ‘Measure blood pressure accurately, control it, and live longer,’ Dr Folson cautioned pregnant women to start antenatal care immediately so as to manage any unforeseen disorder as soon as it was detected.
She stressed that failure to have the health professionals manage it could lead to the disease reoccurring in the future.
‘Pregnancy-induced hypertension must be diagnosed; it is diagnosed when the woman presents herself for antenatal care; it will be mandatorily checked; other tests will be done,’ she stated.
Dr Folson cautioned pregnant women to adopt good eating habits and do regular exercise to help manage the disorder, as it could not be prevented.
She called on husbands and family members to offer their support to both pregnant women and nursing mothers, as stress could contribute to hypertension.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, Regional Manager of Ghana News Agency Tema, explained that ‘Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility’ is part of a collaborative effort to disseminate health information.
He said existing evidence indicated that mass media efforts could help increase awareness of a health problem, raise the level of information about health topics, and make a health topic or problem more salient, thereby sensitizing the public.
Mr Ameyibor called on both the traditional and social media managers to devote some time to engaging health professionals to educate the public.
Source: Ghana News Agency
