KVGOA organizes health talk on Diabetes & Hypertension

Our Correspondent
Kohima | September 25  

The Kohima Village Gazetted Officers’ Association (KVGOA) in collaboration with Kohima Village Doctors’ Association (KVDA) today organized a health talk on diabetes mellitus, hypertension and stroke in commemoration of the ongoing KVGOA silver jubilee celebration at Kohima Village Council (KVC) Hall.

Dr. Neiphrezo Mepfhuo and Dr. Khriesatalie Yhome talked on diabetes mellitus and hypertension & stroke respectively.  

They said that in terms of diabetes, high level of blood glucose can damage the blood vessels in kidneys, heart, eyes or nervous system. Diabetes if left unattended can cause heart disease, stroke, kidney diseases, blindness and nerve damage. For prevention and control of diabetes, people were encouraged to maintain normal body weight, healthy nutritional practices, regular physical exercise such as brisk walking/jogging and avoiding alcohol and smoking.   Secondary prevention is also possible by maintaining normal blood glucose levels, ideal body weight and blood pressure, normal blood cholesterol and fats and to maintain normal HbA1C. All diabetic persons should get their blood estimation, kidney function test, eye check up and foot estimation every 3 to 6 months,they added.  

30% of the disease can be controlled with proper diet, diet for a diabetic person need not be completely different from a non-diabetic person, all green and leafy vegetables should be taken more often like bitter gourd, lettuce leaves, brinjals, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, soyabean etc, cook the vegetables with minimum oil.  

The food that a diabetic patient should avoid are; sugar in any form of sweets, ice creams, chocolates, candies etc, high carbohydrate foods likes potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc, fried items like puri etc, fruits high in sugar content like banana, grapes, mango etc.  

They added that exercise for a diabetic patient is very important as it lowers blood glucose level quickly, improves the ability of the human body to use insulin, reduce insulin requirement, better control of diabetes and reduces the risk of heart diseases.  

Screening tests for common non communicable diseases are available in all district hospitals, according to National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke, Nagaland.  

Referring to hypertension, the speakers said that normal adult blood pressure is defined as a blood pressure of 120mm Hg (systolic) and 80 mm Hg (diastolic). High blood pressure (Hypertension) is defined as blood pressure of 140/90 mm Hg. High blood pressure can lead to heart attacks, stroke and kidney problems.  

Most people with hypertension have no symptoms at all. There is a need for screening of hypertension as it is an incidental finding during routine medical checkups. Sometimes hypertension causes symptoms such as headache, shortness of breath, dizziness, chest pain, palpitations of the heart and nose bleeds.  

Risk factors for high pressure include tobacco use, unhealthy diet, harmful use of alcohol, lack of physical activity, poor stress management, obesity, high intake of salt in the diet, high cholesterol and diabetes mellitus.  

Prevention measures include maintenance of normal body weight, regular physical activity, maintain healthy diet, low in salt and fat and increase intake of seasonal fruits and vegetables, stop tobacco use and exposure to tobacco products, avoiding harmful use of tobacco and manage stress in healthy way.  

Individuals who already have hypertension were encouraged to adopt healthy behaviors, monitor blood pressure at home, check blood sugar, cholesterol level and urine albumin, follow medical advice and regularly take any prescribed medications for lowering blood pressure.  

Earlier, the KVGOA President Er. Keviletuo Yiese and Dr. Vizolie Suokhrie delivered short speeches. The programme was chaired by Dr. Khriesi Sachu.