Emergency Room Series: HBP

Nigerians are the most religious set of people I know. And sometimes, it brings more harm than good when the important things are ignored. 

 Some push their bodies to the point it breaks down all in the name of religion or 'spirituality'. 

A man in his forties was rushed to the ER by passersby. He was brought in a stretcher as he was unconscious. He was said to have slumped while preaching or evangelizing in the streets. He was wearing the church apron. He was mildly obese, pale looking, sweaty and cold to touch. 

His vital signs were checked and his blood pressure was found to be extremely high( over 200mmHg), his heart beat was arrhythmic (irregular), he was gasping for air and he convulsed a few times. He was placed on oxygen and an IV access was made to pass in fluids that would crash the blood pressure and reduce the pressure in the brain. 

His blood was taken for series of tests and he was even booked for a Brain MRI scan (very expensive test) so as to know the level of damage done to the brain. Lucky for him, his phone wasn't passworded and we were able to search for his wife's contact on his phone and inform her of his condition. She was devastated.

Apparently the man was a known hypertensive patient but wasn't sticking to his drug or diet regimen and thinking he'll be healed or the hypertension would go. I'm sure he must have been having common symptoms of high bp such as headaches and blurry vision for some time and yet he kept ignoring it and still went out to preach. 

That was a risky stunt.

Anyway, he is still in the ER, the prognosis is poor and he's still unconscious and not responsive. The MRI showed some level of brain damage. Although his blood pressure has dropped to a manageable level, it seems a lot of damage had been done. Despite the IV fluids passed and other medications, he wasn't making enough urine which means the kidneys have been affected.

 His electrolytes counts were also poor. I really do hope he gets better and wakes up. His relatives will be be spending hundreds of thousands on something that could have easily been prevented. 

Religion and medicine never seem to go hand-in-hand. I don't mean one shouldn't pray to get healed of chronic conditions, but there's a lot of wisdom that should be applied. Its very important that you adhere to medication regimen and diet instructions given and use prayers to back it up. The Bible says 'heaven helps those who help themselves' and even the Quran says 'O servants of Allah, treat yourselves with medication when you are ill, because Allah, the Exalted, Has created a cure for every illness except ‘old age’'

Hypertension is a silent killer. Most times, it leaves no symptoms until its severe. Only a few people go to the hospital to check their blood pressure. You don't have to be so old to have hypertension(the misconception people have), very young men and women(especially working class) have it these days and most of them don't know. We keep hearing of people dying suddenly from heart attacks, its diseases like this that causes it. Everyone should check their blood pressure once a month, no matter what, if you really care about your health.

Its only when its severe that symptoms such as Severe headaches. Fatigue. Vision problems. Chest pain. Difficulty in breathing, Irregular heartbeat, Blood in the urine, Pounding in the chest, neck, or ears are felt.

Hypertension affects almost every organ when its not detected or treated in time. It thickens and blocks the blood vessels and causes the heart to 'swell', it causes kidney failure, brain damage, erectile dysfunction in men, poor eyesight, bone and muscle weakness, poor sleep and many more.


People living with chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension require life long medical care. Its so easy to live for a long time with the disease so far you adhere to instructions: eat right and use medications as required. Most of you have aunts, grandmas, grandpas, or parents living with hypertension. Its important you pay them close attention and ensure they take their meds right and eat right.

 If you have close relatives or parents with the condition, its also likely you develop it later in the future as it could be hereditary so its better you check your blood pressure regularly and watch what you eat, especially your salt and oil intake. 

Some people can't eat until a bag of salt is in the food, they claim the more the salt, the sweeter the food, if you are in that category of people, you should watch it too. Guard your health and you'll spend less on hospital bills. 

Prevention is better than cure.