Nurse and founder of the ‘Life from 30’ Hypertension Organization, Bernice Twumasi Ankrah, has shared some factors that put people at risk of developing high blood pressure.
She revealed, on eTV Ghana’s African Women’s Voices hosted by Eunice Tornyi, that hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, has no known cause, however, there are certain factors that put people at risk of being victims.
Making known some of these risk factors, Bernice said, “First is age. As you age, your BP increases so if you are 18years and your BP is 120/80, when you get to your 30s, it will automatically go up. The way the blood vessels used to work is not the same way it’ll work when you’re ageing”.
She went further to state family history, obesity, high intake of fatty diets and salty diets, etc. as other possible causes of high blood pressure.
She added, “Also, people who take more than 2-3bottles of alcohol per day, are at risk of developing hypertension. This clogs the blood vessels, impedes the flow of blood, thus, increasing the blood pressure.
The last thing that I’m so passionate about is pregnancy. Some people may be born without hypertension but when they get pregnant, then they see their BP increasing whiles in actual fact, pregnancy actually lowers the BP”.
The nurse additionally clarified that she is not educating against the intake of salt or fatty foods, however, it is necessary that we manage the quantities so as to ensure a healthy life and a low chance of coming down with deadly hypertension.
By: Maureen Dedei Quaye