Ugandans scooping death with forks

Apr 13, 2013

Eighty per cent of Uganda’s bread winners are eating their way into an early grave, a Ugandan medic has revealed.

By Benon Tugumisirize

Eighty per cent of Uganda’s bread winners are eating their way into an early grave, a Ugandan medic has revealed.

“Unhealthy diets with lots of salt, fats and sugars, physical inactivity, predispose us to high blood pressure. 80% of the bread winners in Uganda die of high blood pressure and sudden paralysis of one side of the body (stroke),” Dr. Gerald Mutungi says.

He is the programmes manager at Non Communicable Diseases (NCD).

He said a recent study established that the number of heart diseases among the generation of bread winners is rapidly increasing and if no immediate interventions are made, hypertension will become the leading killer disease by 2020.

The most common heart disease conditions include high blood pressure (hypertension), stroke, stress and heart failure.

Who are the bread winners?

Population reports indicate that Uganda has a heavy dependant burden. According to the State of Uganda Population Report 2012, 78% of Ugandans are below the age of 30, while 52% are below 15.

Only 22% of the population is over the age of 30.

Hypertension/high blood pressure

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a condition in which vessels that pump blood from the heart to the rest of the body persistently have high pressure. High blood pressure can lead to damaged organs and other complications.

Mutungi explained that the disease occurs when blood is not flowing normally in the body as a result of unhealthy diet.

According to the World Health Organisation, one out of every three adults worldwide has high blood pressure. It is for this reason that the disease was the theme of this year’s World Health Day, which was marked last Sunday.

Causes

Dr. Mutungi cited the factors that predispose one to getting high blood pressure and diabetes as eating unhealthy diets high in fats, low in fibre and with little or no starchy foods, fruits and vegetables.

Others include aging, being overweight and obese, over consumption of alcohol and being born in a family with history of diabetes.

Students join the death queue

Dr. Mutungi lamented that they are beginning to see cases of high blood pressure among school-going children.

He observed students no longer have play grounds, parents drop and pick them to and from school, thus limiting their time of exercises.

He said hypertension also develops, especially when one smokes since tobacco makes the blood vessel walls stiff.

These situations, Mutungi said, cause the heart to be overworked causing some vessels to burst, dropping blood in the brain and one will suffer stroke.

According to Mutungi, a stroke leaves residual elements in the body that make it hard for one to regain their status.

Blacklisted food

About the fatty and junk foods, Mutungi said foods like chips and chicken that is dipped in oil contain a lot of cholesterol, which keeps piling in the vessels, putting the heart at a risk of using a lot of force to pump blood.

“The most expensive food on the market is the most dangerous yet it’s the one people are running after. We are what we eat. People are using their forks and spoons to dig their own graves,” he observed.

Mutungi said 70% of stroke cases at Mulago Hospital are as a result of high blood pressure and 50 to 60% of medical out-patients at Mulago have high blood pressure.

Warning signs

Mutungi cited the signs of high blood pressure as frequent urinating than normal including at night, eating big portions of food – polyphagia and always feeling thirsty with dry mouths – polydipsia.

He said one can only know their status if they visit a qualified health worker in a health unit.

“A simple test can detect glucose in a sample of urine if you have glucose in your urine; it is likely that you have diabetes.

However, some people have kidneys that are weak and glucose may leak into urine with normal blood glucose level,” observes Mutungi.

Treatment

He encouraged all people to know their blood pressure when it’s still early to avoid complications such as stroke, heart failure, Kidney failure, brain damage and blindness.

Mutungi said the Ministry of Health is creating awareness of high blood pressure to the public, providing equipment and drugs to all health facilities.

He added that hypertension drugs are free in all health facilities beginning with health centre III to the national referral hospital. Mutungi said the cost of these hypertension drugs vary, with the lowest dose for the starters being sh10,000.

The prevalence of hypertension in a study conducted in only two districts Wakiso, a peri-urban district and Kasese, a rural one was 32% and 23% respectively.

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