The Silent Health Traitor
Silent Health Traitor may be understood differently by different people. Those who are in love might say that you killed me with your smile, or a woman would say “You killed me with your care and deep love". Seriously, silent killers in medical terms refer to those diseases, illnesses, or disorders that induce death without causing any signs or causing symptoms that are so unclear that they are overlooked. The article https://www.piedmont.org/living-better/4-silent-killers-of-men, outlines four (4) silent killers for men that include prostate cancer, heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. On the other hand, the article https://health.clevelandclinic.org/women-heres-your-no-1-killer/ also pointed out the number 1 woman killer is heart disease. As we notice the common silent killer for both men and women is heart disease.
In this article, I'll focus the discussion on Hypertension as one of the silent killers. Hypertension is a medical term for a commonly known disease of high blood pressure. It is known as a temporary (short-term) or long-term increase in blood pressure in the arteries. This elevation has the potential to damage the heart and circulatory system.
True enough with its moniker ‘silent killer’, I’ve known several people who suffered from this and unfortunately lost their lives. In the “The global epidemiology of hypertension study”, that in 2010 though more than a decade ago, the global estimate of people with hypertension worldwide was 31.1 % of adults or 1.39 billion individuals worldwide. This is a huge number. Worst is that less than half of this number are aware that they have with them the silent killer.
World Hypertension Day 2021
Annually every May 17th is the celebration of International Day of Hypertension or World Hypertension Day. This annual event has been promoted by the World Hypertension League (WHL). This year’s celebration bears the theme "Measure Your Blood Pressure, Control It, Live Longer" with the aim of raising global awareness of high blood pressure (BP) and emphasizing the importance of precise BP calculation and monitoring. This is very relevant as pointed out above that there were less than 50% of those suffering from the disease are aware that this silent killer is already with them just waiting for the right time to attack. I mean with no indicators or signs of the presence of the disease that leaves the patient clueless and no other option but to face the sudden death.
My Sketch Thought
I suffered hypertension for quite some time now. I think it is almost a decade now. I have a hard time managing it. I resorted to some diet with medication, and today it is somehow controlled hypertension already. Still, I have to be very careful but sometimes work-related stress is contributory to this problem and makes me impatient about managing this illness. The dynamics of life and everyday circumstances related to work and family sometimes prevent me from performing the exercise, preparing a healthy meal, and rest. Anyway, everyday life for me is both a challenge and a blessing, that is why I’m not tired of looking into guides and professional help in dealing with hypertension and ensuring that every day is a happy life for me. My exercise challenged this month is to perform an average of 200 push-ups a day, I think this would be of great help to me.
[Lead Image by InspiredImages from Pixabay].
Thank you!
