There is this false belief or erroneous impression that hypertension can be cured like other disease conditions; thereby making some patients not to want to continue taking their drugs the moment their condition improves. The moment they check their blood pressure and get a reading of 120/80mmHg or less, they conclude they no longer need to comply with their regimen.
However, the painful truth about hypertension is that it is an incurable condition that requires the sufferer taking his drugs for the rest of his life, except God performs a miracle on him.
We once had a patient who was on a regular medical check up in our company clinic: he was also on doctor’s prescriptions which were supposed to be adhered to, and only be changed after the doctor’s review. He adhered religiously to his drugs regimen for sometime. Suddenly, he disappeared and never showed up for review for over 6 months.
Then one evening as workers were closing for the day, we received a call that there was an emergency situation that required the doctor’s urgent attention. The young man suddenly started to experience bleeding from the nose (epistaxis). The ambulance rushed him into the clinic where attempts were made by our doctor to stop the bleeding.
After series of methods were tried and there was no success, he invited two other doctors from the other nearby company clinics. The young man kept bleeding profusely from the nose for upward of about 4 hours. Ice packs, adrenaline packs, digital pressure, etc. were applied, yet no positive result. Then they resolved to apply an in-dwelling catheter, which was inserted into the nostril and inflated. The ball eventually acted as a plug over the bleeding vessel and the haemorrhage stopped. He had to breathe with his mouth for the whole night.
He was very lucky the rupture had only occurred in the nostril and not in the brain; if it had occurred in the brain he would have suffered from stroke, and perhaps he would have died from the complications. Imagine the number of hours he bled from the nose and the failed attempts to arrest the bleeding. If it had been in the brain, there would have been unrestricted bleeding and his life would have been in serious danger.
There is a need to adhere to medical advice and never to assume you know more than the professional doctor. Don’t ever think hypertension would go away by itself or by merely taking your drugs for a few months. Always check with your doctor before adjusting the dosage of your drugs, and before going off the prescription for sometime if you ever need to do so.
You should not allow anyone to deceive you by claiming to cure your condition with whatever remedy. Be sure your doctor places you on close monitoring for a specific period of time, and that he’s satisfied with the result and claims (if you ever take alternative medicine) before you shout ‘eureka’.
