High cases of obesity and hypertension were recorded at a health screening exercise organised by Divine Mother and Child Foundation (DMACF) in Koforidua last Friday as part of Ghana’s Independence Day celebration.
Out of the over 1,444 people who were screened on various diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, blood count, blood groupings and breast cancer, more than half were obese and hypertensive.
The President of DMAC, Foundation, Edmund Duodu Atweri, a public health nurse, blamed the condition on bad lifestyles, poor eating habits as well as lack of exercise by Ghanaians.
He explained that three persons were referred to seek emergency care at the Koforidua Regional Hospital due to high blood pressure levels.
According to him, many medical studies have shown a relation between obesity and high blood pressure, adding that obese people are vulnerable to higher blood pressure than people with a normal blood
pressure.
He said this increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases among them.
Mr Atweri further explained that obesity induces a high
secretion of insulin in trying to decrease the excessive sugar concentration in the blood.
This insulin secretion, he said, is very high compared to a non-obese person.
Moreover, the insulin secreted by the pancreas is responsible for many
modifications in the body which induces a thickening of the vessels which is responsible for an increase in their rigidity, thus increasing the blood pressure.
Healthy Foods
He entreated the public to live a healthy lifestyle by eating more vegetables and fruits and engage in physical exercises to prevent sudden deaths out of high blood pressure as being recorded in the country.
The nurse also disclosed that through the courtesy of Joy Industries, the screening exercise would be replicated monthly in selected villages and towns in the Eastern Region.
A Physician Assistant at the New Abirem Government Hospital, Maxwell Aidoo, urged Ghanaians to undertake periodic check-ups to enable medical experts to examine their health status for early detection and treatment as well as control of life threatening diseases such as high blood pressure to avert sudden deaths.
Some of the participants expressed their profound gratitude to the NGO and Joy Industries for the free medical exercise.
Dr Harison Tetteh, chief executive officer (CEO) of Joy Industries, disclosed that the prime aim of the company is to improve healthcare of the public.
From Daniel Bampoe, Koforidua
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