Alhaji Alade Odunewu a.k.a Allah dey, that great columnist of the Daily Times newspaper of bygone years, gave us the idea of Walking Corpses. He was one himself, he wrote in one of his columns so titled. He was terminally hypertensive but did not know he was dying because his hypertension gave him no such warning signs. Thanks to his doctors when he went to hospital for unrelated reasons. They detained him on bed rest for a while, and he learned that he and many persons, especially journalists, hopping around in daily hustles could be best described as Walking Corpses.
Surprisingly, I was not hypertensive in real terms, and I am not now, in my years inside journalism’s hypertension-predisposing newsroom infernos. However, I came off with Intra Occular Pressure(IOP), a term for elevated tension in the eye and a cause of glaucoma which, interestingly, a new hypothesis is suggesting may be caused by diabetes among cells at the back of the brain which control vision and may be confronted with coconut oil in the diet. This is a subject for another day as the hypothesis unfolds. Today, the curtain will fall on some causes and potential cures for hypertension, begun last week to invite attention to The World Hypertension Day
Since I have been checking my blood pressure about 35 years ago, it has averaged 110/70 or 120/80. Only when I am on pharmaceutical medication for glaucoma does it crash to about 90/60 or 85/55 or thereabout, so I gave up the drugs to avert low blood pressure.
My father was not as lucky as I have been by the time he passed in 1998, aged 76, due to congestive heart failure. This is one of the repercussions of enlarged heart, often a derivative of hypertension. It may be suspected in aging or old persons who manifest persistent cough the presentation could be that hypertension caused enlargement of the heart, the enlarged heart becomes weak, the weak heart pumps blood to the lungs for Oxygenation but is too weak to bring back oxygenated blood for circulation to all parts of the body. Meanwhile, the blood that does not easily return to the heart becomes an irritating unwelcome guest in the lungs which try to expel it, through the cough process.
For my father, hypertension was a pay-off for 35 years of dreadful and dangerous police work which often involved policemen predisposed to hypertension performing hypertension predisposing tasks such as the pursuit of armed robbers or the quelling of civil riots. Hands up, policemen who are not hypertensive! The mob captured my father and some of his colleagues for hours during the Olowo of Owo chieftaincy crisis in Ondo State. He and his colleauges suffered raw deals from mobs during the Adelabu crisis in Ibadan and the Taxi Drivers riot also in Ibadan. During the taxi drivers’ riot, he was hit in the corner of the right eye by a stone fired from a catapult, a problem he managed till he passed but which did not stop the police from sending him on equally dangerous duties. I was not too young at 16 to note the toll on police health of the Western Region political crisis and the Wetie in Ibadan. It did not matter to the police boss that a subordinate was hypertensive. A job had to be done. No one went out of the barracks without permission. Once the trumpet sounded an emergency, every one assembled in riot gear, a roll was taken, the absentees noted and marked for punishment while the ones present were taken away, far away from home, often to another town for weeks or months with little or no money in their pockets, food and water irregular. One of my friends who is now among the top brass policemen in Abuja today will laugh on reading his story here. He is hypertensive. A few years ago, soldiers cleared up a region in Borno State of Boko Haram insurgents. They had to move on. As there were not enough soldiers, policemen were asked to hold the fort in the liberated area. My friend was among the policemen drafted from different parts of Nigeria. When they heard the sound of guns fired by the insurgents, the policemen fled. Who would not? My friend had been hypertensive for years before he was drafted from Lagos.
Of all potential causes of hypertension, space would permit discussion of only a few of…poor diet,…stress… Sleep deficit… Obesity… Alcoholism… Smoking…Sedentary lifestyle… Kidney disease… Hyperthyroidism… Sleep apnea… Diabetes… Genetics…some medications and age. I would discuss them later.
Stress
It is a huge family which parades cousins as physical, metabolic, psychic, environmental and bio chemical stressors etc. They work through a number of pathways to cause hypertension. Some of these routes include a) the hypothalamus/pituitary adrenal b) sympathetic nervous system c) renin-angiotensin system (RAS) activation behaviourism.
They work synergically. The pituitary, known as the “master gland”, controls the endocrine glands …glands which place their hormone secretions directly into the bloodstream. In some ways, the hypothalamus influences the pituitary. It controls the autonomic or automatic nervous system. This regulates activities we cannot physically control such as the beating of the heart or filtration process in the kidneys. It controls hunger signals, the circadian (sleep-wake) cycles, hormone regulation, including control of the pituitary gland. The adrenals are known as the anti-stress organs. When, for example, fear of the landlord, or of an impending examination we are ill prepared for or even the possibility of separation or divorce in marriage confront us or there is a risk of losing a job, the adrenals produce hormones which embolden us and enable us to face the challenge. These hormones temporarily or permanently alter the biochemistry and functioning of different parts of the body. Adrenal hormones which cause the alteration are known as cortisol and adrenaline (also called epinephrine). These hormones constrict the blood vessels , thereby increasing blood pressure. When we are under stress for too long, the adrenals may “burn out” . This means they can no longer produce enough stress hormones which are like the shock absorbers of a motor vehicle. The shocks of a motor vehicle do not allow impact of the bumps on a road to be transmitted to the chassis of the motor vehicle and, from there, to the passengers comfortably seated inside it. So, stress hormones from the adrenals each of which is located on top of the two kidneys, do not make us know we are undergoing stress when we are… if they are healthy. Therefore, eating for the adrenals or supplementing the diet with food supplements for them is important when we are undergoing stress. My favourite food supplements for the adrenals were Siberian Ginseng and Black Peruvian Macca. There are red macca and yellow macca as well. They are for other purposes. Siberian Ginseng is adaptogenic. This means it restores normalcy. When we are under stress and, therefore, literally speaking heated up, it is like water in the radiator of a motor vehicle. Radiator water cools the engine. When we are low and lethargic, Siberian ginseng, which is indicated more for men, fires us up to keep us moving. Black Peruvian Macca stabilises the brain like Gingko biloba or gotu kola and also helps men to remain fertile, producing healthy motile sperm and bigger sperm counts without necessarily raising the count of testosterone, the male hormone which gives men their male characteristics. It is popular among athletes because it helps them to build and to sharpen muscle tone and improves their endurance capacities. It is also adaptogenic in several ways. On the other hand, Red Peruvian Macca helps women to balance their hormones, particularly estrogen and progesterone, ease or prevent Pre Menstrual Syndrome (PMS) and see them comfortably through the ravages of menopause and perimenopause. Red Peruvian Macca can be exciting news for men as well because it may help to reduce prostate gland size in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). Yellow Peruvian Macca is considered an “all rounder,” improving fertility, balancing the hormones, improving physical endurance and mental balance, especially in anxiety and depression.
This is especially important for men. When stress knocks out the adrenal glands, the brain will instruct that the SEX HORMONES be converted to STRESS HORMONES. The following is important for flaming Romeos and Juliets. When the adrenals are burnt out, that is when these anti stress organs are themselves overstressed, Is it not better to be alive with no sexual responses than to be a Romeo and be dead? This is how stress takes away the libido in men and women. They can avoid libido problems caused by giving unto Peter and unto Paul what belongs to each of them. Therefore, people who work under stress of any kind should take care of their adrenals and their libido as well. I took care of mine. Another person I suspect must have been taking care of himself the way he knew was MR ONOJOMO ORERE, The Guardian’s health correspondent in those days. For almost every year, he invited me to a naming ceremony of his children and, till this day, I always teased him how he managed the feat despite the pressure under which we all worked.
In respect of other possible causes of hypertension, the thyroid may over work the heart with rapid heart beats, the condition called TACHYCARDIA which may be misplaced as plain PALPITATION. A professor at Lagos State University (LASU) treated palpitations to no avail for several years until his wife showed him this column’s discussion of HYPERTHYRODISM and a line editor of The Nation newspaper who was following developments in natural medicine facilitated our meeting. Till this day, plant medicines such as Co Q10 or ubiquinol, Hawthorn berries, lecithin, vitamin E, Magnesium, Kyolic circulation or Kyolic heart support and the likes of them are never absent in his medicines chest.
In acute or chronic stress, cortisol makes the liver to produce glucose for the blood stream, while adrenalin gets the liver to convert glucose stored as Glycogen back into glucose. The net effect is that there is enough glucose for “FLIGHT or FIGHT” energy response to stress of any sort. When stress becomes chronic, too much glucose in the blood stream may cause Insulin resistance , a condition in which the cells reject insulin and glucose. Insulin is meant to drive glucose into the cells. However, unknown to many persons, insulin cannot effectively do this when there is not enough chromium in their company. Many processed foods have had their chromium removed or significantly reduced. Many nutrition authorities believe the losses may be up to 96 percent. About 86 percent of zinc is also lost. Yet, zinc is required for immunity, good vision and prostate gland health. Rejected by the cells along with glucose, because of chromium deficiency, insulin stays in the blood vessels where it causes soft muscles to multiply and reduce passage for blood flow. Such vessels are described as “ muscle bound”, and their situation may become impossible to remedy. It is a cause of hypertension. Too much glucose in the blood vessels not only thickens the blood but further narrows and damages the blood vessels, thereby causing or worsening hypertension. When these hormones impact what is called the Renin–Angiotensin pathway, constriction of blood vessels and retention of sodium and fluid occurs. Too much fluid means a heavier work load for the heart to push, and hypertension persists. Furthermore, chronic stress may combine with glucose overload to cause inflammation and oxidative stress. In the end, METABOLIC SYNDROME, an evidence of which is abdominal pouch and fat around the belly, may emerge, signalling that a train load of hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, heart attack and stroke may not be too far away. Incidentally, October has been designated stroke awareness month by the world stroke organisation.
Smoking
Stress and smoking go together. Many journalists do drink and smoke. I was drinking moderately but did not smoke. I never exceeded two bottles on a work day and only went to three when we gathered at the joint for pepper soup, never forgetting my medicines which replaced potassium losses through urination. Nicotine in cigarette smoke constricts blood vessels , inflames them and worsens their constriction, increases heart rate and output, thereby stressing blood vessels.
Inactivity
Sedentary lifestyle may cause INSULIN resistance and blood vessel stiffness and obesity, which overtasks the heart. Unused calories build up into fat, blocking blood vessels, particularly in the heart itself or form around the heart and weigh it down. That is why it is always suggested that every person walk no fewer than 10,000 steps everyday. Even 30 minutes walk a day in measured steps are believed to be enough to help the body to produce enough lipase, a fat- burning enzyme, which will help the body burn fat non stop for the next 24 hours. People who have more brown fat cells are luckier than those who have more white fat cells because white fat cells are rigid and hardly burn on their own. Many persons who think they have low grade fever because their bodies are always warm may simply have more brown fat cells which burn on their own without external push. As for women with heavy-duty buttocks which they regard as sex assets and seductively brandish before men may not appreciate that those hips are one of the body’s dustbins for hiding poisons. When the buttocks are filled up, the tendency is for the abdomen and the breasts, in that order, to step in line to help out as waste and poison storages. That is what excess fat does in the body…to store excess poisons. That is why Europeans do not eat the skin of fish or that of any animal because they know excess fat is a toxin storage.
Sleep Apnea
Nigerian sufferers believe village people or their enemies such as witches “press” them “down” during sleep, making them unable to breathe, whereas the air passages are blocked by inflammation and they are not getting enough air and oxygen into their bodies. Chronic sleep apnea narrows the blood vessels through oxidative stress and other pathways.
Poor diet
High sodium consumption, especially through monosodium glutamate (MSG), poor potassium intake, deficiencies of calcium and magnesium and other minerals may cause water retention, heavier blood load, more work load for the heart and…hypertension. In 1984, my wife and I resolved to remove MSG from our meals at home. A good campaigner against MSG is Mr Hyacinth Uzor, who may be approaching 90 years now, and who may speak for hours on end about its dangers to health.
Kidney disease
Deceased kidney(s) may cause sodium elevation, potassium depletion, heavy blood, insulin resistance and hypertension. Hypertension, too, may cause kidney damage through some complex mechanisms
Conclusion
Hypertension is preventable, can be well managed and even reversed in some cases, using plant medicines. Some cases have responded favourably to increased dietary consumption of potassium and avoidance of dietary sodium overload through MSG taste enhancers. I have been probably luckier than many persons of my age, 75, because I have been precautionary for more than 25 years now. From my diet, I nullified white flour and whole wheat bread, cow’s milk, poultry egg and chicken, fried and processed food, white rice, sugar and I have never eaten noodles. Besides, I have been taking herbs for kidney, liver, blood and blood vessel cleansing, as well as plant medicines which energise the heart. The kidneys and the liver are poison filters and, like fuel filters in automobiles, need regular cleansing to remove blood and blood vessel contaminants. My suggestions for cleansing with which I have worked for more than 35 years are:
LIVER: milk thistle, carqueja, Jerusalem artichoke, dandelion, common club moss, turmeric etc
KIDNEYS: corn silk, dandelion, cilantro, parsley, uva ursi, hydrangea, papaya leaf, horsetail, cranberry etc
HEART AND BLOOD VESSELS: CO Q 10, ubiquinol, Kyolic heart support, Kyolic circulation, vitamin E, cayenne, gotu kola, Gingko biloba, butcher’s broom, magnesium, coral calcium, Cardiotonic pills (CP), selenium, calcium + vitamin D3 etc.
I believe that we can have fewer walking corpses in newsrooms and in society generally if we learn to take care of our bodies even better than we care for our printing presses and broadcast equipment or, for policemen, the riot gears, the rifles and the uniform. The policemen in Agege, Lagos, who fled into safety through the windows of their offices during the END SARS rebellion and pulled their uniforms in street corners will appreciate what I have just spoken about. Many of them used to congregate in KEYSLEY’S pharmacy shop near the fly over bridge to check their blood pressure, random blood sugar levels and buy anti-hypertensive and anti-diabetic drugs. Sadly, I have lost touch with them all because the pharmacy store has given way to development and relocated to Surulere also in Lagos. Nevertheless, this is a rememberance shout out to you all in the expectation that you have all migrated from the ranks of WALKING CORPSES
