Assessment of Nutritional Status of a Group of Hypertensive Patients Attending Tertiary Healthcare Facilities in Nigeria

Background: Hypertension is a growing concern in developing and developed countries. Most of the diagnosed cases are caused by dietary lifestyle.Objective: To assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adult hypertensive in a selected tertiary health care in Nigeria.Design: A cross sectional study.Setting: Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Ikeja, Lagos and University College Hospital, Ibadan Nigeria.Subjects: A total of 120 patients (40.8% males and 59.2% females), volunteered to participate in the study after informed consent. Patients were recruited by convenience sampling method.Outcome measures: Weight, height, waist and hip circumference, Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR).Results: The results showed that high percentage (62.5%) of the respondents had no family history of hypertension while 57.5% had hypertension less than one year ago. Patients’ lifestyle revealed that 15.0% were taking alcohol, 85% had history of smoking tobacco while 53.8% of the respondents engaged in regular physical exercise. The BMI showed that grade 2 obesity was higher (41.0%) among females comparedwith males (21%). The WHR assessment also confirmed incidence of obesity among females compared to males as the WHR was 1.82±0.45 and 2.00 ±0.00 for male and female respectively.Conclusion: Nutrition screening of hypertension is necessary for early intervention against hypertension and obesity

Prevalence of Obesity among Adult Hypertensive Patients attending the Lagos State Hospital, Ikeja South West, Nigeria

Objective: Nutritional assessment of hypertensive patients attending the Lagos State Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria was assessed to determine prevalence of overweight and obesity among the patients. Subjects and methods: The study involved three hundred and forty (340) adult males and females hypertensive patients. Pretested interviewer- administered questionnaires were used to obtain information on the socio- demographic characteristics and the feeding pattern of the patients. The weight, height, waist and hip circumferences of the patients were assessed. The body mass index (BMI) of the patients was determined as weight (Kg)/ height (m)2 to detect underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity. The waist/hip ratio of the patient was also determined. Results: The mean (SD) age of the patients was 57(13.2) years. Forty percent of the patients were males while 203(60.0) % were females. The weights and heights of the male and female patients were 72.6 (13.8)kg and 80.5 (12.3)kg and also 1.67(0.12)m and 1.58(0.33)m respectively. The mean (SD) waist/hip ratio of the male and female patients were 1.01 (0.08) and 0.97 (0.06) respectively. Only 0.9% of the patients were underweight, 20.9% had normal weight while 78.2% were either overweight or obese. Among the overweight and obes patients, the percentage (50.5%) of the female patients was significantly higher than their male counterparts (27.6%) (p< 0.001). Conclusion: A high incidence of overweight and obesity was observed among the hypertensive patients. The females were significantly more overweight than the females. Low-calorie diet and regular moderate exercise should be emphasized in the management of overweight and obese hypertensive patients

Assessment of BMI and Socio-demographic Status of the People Living with HIV/AIDS in Abeokuta, Nigeria

Background: AIDS is most dreaded, most feared and still most talked about disease in the world today. Due to lack of cure for HIV/AIDs, the immune system of infected patients is under constant exposure to infections which adversely affect the nutritional status and immune competence of the subjects in questions. Objective: The study therefore investigated the body mass index and socio-demographic status of the people living with HIV/AIDS [PLWHA] in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Subjects and methods: Convenience sampling technique was used to select two hundred respondents who made themselves available at the time of data collection. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics. Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) Version 15.0 was used for analysis. Results: The body mass index revealed that 35.5% had normal body weight, 7.5% had chronic energy deficiency, 19.0% were moderately thin, 21.5% were mildly underweight. The prevalence of pre-obesity was 12.5% and the remaining 4% represented grade1 of obesity. Socio-demographic characteristics showed that, females were the dominant group (67%), while the remaining 33% were males. Out of the respondents, 123 (61.5%) were married, 46 (23.0%) were single and the remaining 31 (15.5%) respondents were divorced. Conclusion: It was recommended that there was need for nutrition intervention programme to reduce or reverse energy deficiencies among the PLWHA in Abeokuta. Key words: HIV/AIDS, BMI, social demographic status

Intussusception in Infants, Experience from Lagos, Nigeria

Worlwide, intussusception is a fairly common surgical emergency in infants. They often present in ways that mimmick dysenteric diarrheoa, and accurate diagnosis requires both an awareness of its modes of presentation and a healthy index of suspicion. We reviewed and analysed several epidemiologic and clinical parameters as well as management options in cases of intussusception in infants and children treated at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital between January 2006 and December 2006. There were 33 cases in all. All of them had operativemanagement. The commonest type was ileo-colic intussusception (91%). There was no definite pathologic lead point but enlarged Peyer’s patches were noticed in 5 cases. Delay in diagnosis and referral from various centers was apparent as 23 cases (69.7%) presented beyond three days of onset of symptoms. Manual operative reduction was possible in 50% of cases who presented beyond 5 days of onset of symptoms. There was one unusual case of post operative jejuno-jejunal intussusception after an initial operative manual reduction of ileo-colic intussusception. 36% of the patients that presented more than 72hours after the onset of symptoms required bowel resections, on account of vascular compromise of the intussusception. Yet there was no mortality in this series. Late presentationof patients with intussusception is still quite common in our environment, increasing complications in these cases. However by a combination of aggressive fluid resuscitation and close monitoring prior to surgery, we have been able to manage these cases and achieve good results

Phytonutrient, Antioxidant and Mineral Composition of Some Wild Fruits in South West Nigeria

This study was carried out to determine the chemical composition, antinutrient and phytonutrient contents of some wild fruits, namely African star apple (Chrysophyllum albidum G. Don.), hog plum (Spondias mombin Linn.), bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis Baill.) and monkey cola (Cola millenii K. Schum.). Samples of the wild fruit commonly consumed werecollected from some villages in Ido Local Government Area, Oyo State Nigeria. The wild fruits were analysed for phytonutrients, antioxidants and mineral composition. Ranges of total phenolics and total anthocyanin content of these wild fruits were 27.78 ± 6.01 in I. gabonensis, 57.42 ± 4.47 in S. mombin, 121.29 ± 4.97 in C. millenii and 398.23 ± 0.00 in C. albidum respectively. Significant differences (p &lt; 0.05) were found in antinutrient, phytonutrient and mineral composition of C. albidum, I. gabonensis and C. millenii. The analysis of variance revealed that calcium and manganese contents of I. gabonensis were significantly (p &lt; 0.05) higher than those of C. albidum and C. millenii. The antioxidants especially vitamin C content ranged from as low as 15.87 mg/100 g in C. albidum to as high as 204.86 mg/100 g in S. mombin. The values for total carotenoid ranged from 172.77 ìg/100 g (in C. millenii) to 1380.17 ìg/100 g (in C. albidum). The wild fruits are sources of phytonutrients, antioxidants such as vitamin C, total carotenoids and some minerals. Planting of the wild fruit trees or the incorporation in farming systems should thus be encouraged to increase production and availability to consumers and as industrial raw materials.Keywords: Wild fruits, minerals, vitamins, phytonutrients, Nigeria