some of the participants at the recent Cimas half-marathon (pic by The Lensecape Media)
BY MUNYARADZI BLESSING DOMA
It’s around 5am along Chitungwiza Road, and a group of men and women can be seen running.
The group which is numbering about 20, is made up of people of various age groups.
They are so focused on their routine, such that one would think they are a team practicing for some upcoming competition.
Among the runners is Debra Marandi, who has made running not only a form of exercise but a hobby which brightens up her day.
And unless when she is under the weather, she runs every single day.
This reporter approached Marandi after one of her weekend walks and she opened up on her lifestyle journey.
“For me exercises are important because of so many things, like I can tell you that both my parents families have a history of hypertension and diabetes, so I know this is genetic.
“So I have no choice, I know I have to exercise so that I fight such things, hypertension and diabetes,” said Marandi.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines hypertension or high blood pressure, as when the pressure in your blood vessels is too high (140/90 mmHg or higher), adding that it is common but can be serious if not treated.
It is further reported by WHO that an estimated 1,4 billion adults aged 30-79 years worldwide, had hypertension in 2024, which represents 33 percent of the population in this age range.
“Two thirds of adults aged 30-79 years who have hypertension live in low and middle-income countries.
“An estimated 600 million adults with hypertension (44 percent) are unaware that they have the condition,” reports WHO.
Further reports are that raised systolic blood pressure, is the leading cause of deaths globally, causing more than 10,8 million deaths (19 percent of all deaths) in 2019 as it is said that “hypertension is a major cause of premature death worldwide.”
On its report on Zimbabwe, WHO states that about 1,6 million of the 30-79 age group in Zimbabwe have hypertension.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information in a report titled “Emerging blood pressure concerns among young adults in Zimbabwe”, states that Zimbabwe is “witnessing an increasing trend of hypertension, particularly the young adults aged 18-24 years, challenging the traditional perception that it is common among adults.”
The report further states that “the rising prevalence of high BP among young adults in Africa can be attributed to several interrelated factors.
“First, urbanization and changes in lifestyle play a significant role.
“As more Africans move to urban areas, they adopt more sedentary lifestyles and dietary habits that differ significantly from those of previous generations.”
It is said if those unhealthy habits persist, they increase the risk of sustained hypertension.
The World Health Organisation recommends that “lifestyle changes like eating healthier diet, quitting tobacco and being more active can help lower blood pressure. Some people may still need to take medicines.”
And to help manage hypertension, a multifaceted approach is recommended, amphasizing both lifestyle changes and pharmacological treatments.
On lifestyle modifications, WHO reports that, “adopting a healthy diet, as the DASH (Dietary approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet is recommended.
“This includes reducing sodium intake, increasing potassium intake, and consuming plenty of fruits, vegetables and low fat dairy products.
“Regular physical activity is essential. Maintaining a healthy weight is crucial.
“Reducing and managing stress through various techniques like mindfulness, meditation, or yoga is also recommended.”
Marandi said while she sometimes feels like negating on her positive lifestyle journey, she is quick to remember the risk she faces.
“The challenge with hypertension is that it’s a silent killer, the symptoms can be absent, so I will keep on doing all necessary physical activities, because the risk is always there.
“And the good thing is that exercises are now more of a lifestyle or a hobby for me.
“If I don’t exercise, I start my day feeling sad and low, but when I do, I look forward to the day because exercises help to lighten up my mood.
“This is healthy and keeps me fit by fighting vascular diseases so I have to do this by all means necessary.
“And the other thing is that I also need to look good in my body, so exercises keep my everything intact,” added Marandi.
She revealed that her exercise routine also includes boxing, which she does three times a week as well as weightlifting which she does twice a week.
“I also enjoy long walks during the weekend, walking 8 to 10 kilometres. I do this first thing in the morning, like I’m in the gym from 5 to 6am”
She added that eating healthy is also key to fight hypertension.
Dr Efison Dhodho
Doctor Efison Dhodho, PHD Researcher and Public Health Specialist at OPHID, revealed in an interview that there are three important phases in managing hypertension.
“The reason why I have put it into three phases is because we have that old adage hypertension as a silent killer, so we must include that silent time or silent period.
“In other words, a person must manage hypertension before they know they have got hypertension.
“By the time they know that they have got hypertension, often times, a lot of damage has already taken place.
“So we look at diet, we look at exercise and the third one is stress management, I say they are related because at cellular level, the mechanism of action are quite close,” said Dr Dhodho.
He added that the first phase of managing hypertension is basically to prevent it since the three; exercise, diet and stress management, can help prevent hypertension.
“The commonest type of hypertension, in our settings, is called hypertension of age. “Hypertension of course, the major association is age. So we know that old people have hypertension when they are above 50 years of age.
“So we know that our mothers begin to have hypertension at the age of 50 years, but of late, it has gone down.
“We are now having 20-year-olds with hypertension. So this first type of hypertension, which is called essential, they can just know that there are things that are associated with it worsening.
“But you cannot explain why it started in the first place and that is the more dangerous one because it is the one where you get people being surprised to say, but he used to cycle, he did not have a lot of weight, so we didn’t even suspect that he could have hypertension.”
Dr Dhodho added that essential hypertension can be controlled by good diet, physical activity, and stress management.
“So diet basically is, for lack of a simpler explanation, they say it is the diet that your grandmother used to eat.
“What is the difference between my diet today and the diet that my grandmother in Zimbabwe used to eat? It’s processing.
“It means that you are ideally supposed to eat a diet which has less processed foods. It doesn’t have to be rocket science kind of diet. You just have to give lesser processing.
“In other words, let’s look at fruits. Why not eat your fruits raw, than to eat them after they have been put into cairns and processed?
“Let’s look at mealie-meal. Why not eat mealie-meal which has just been ground but it’s not super refined?
“Let’s look at sugar, why not eat, in fact, there has to be as less sugar as possible because sugar leads to weight gain.
“It leads to what is called insulin resistance, which leads to hypertension.”
Doctor Dhodho said exercises are good but should not be intense; as one should be able to sustain them.
He revealed that walking 7,500 steps has been seen at a global level to significantly contribute towards better overall health outcomes.
He added that for stress management, there’s need for the body to release good hormones, happy hormones that cause the body to generally relax.
As many people have become health conscious, it is encouraging to see corporates promoting wellness programmes and at times opening them to not only their employees or members but even the general public.
Vuli Ndlovu, Cimas Health Group Chief Executive Officer
And one such corporate is leading medical service provider Cimas Health Group through their iGo Wellness Division, who have the Cimas half-marathon, Pedal to Wellness and Cimas Recipe Book, aiming to inspire healthier communities as revealed by Chief Executive Officer, Vuli Ndlovu.
Ndlovu is on record saying that while they would want as many people to be their members, the group’s goal is for “people to remain healthy.”
And through their various programmes, they have been helping to fight hypertension among other diseases, calling for healthy lifestyles, exercises and eating healthy.
“Regular exercises help to maintain a healthy weight and lowers blood pressure, contributing to better health,” said Ndlovu during a recent wellness programme.
He further called for a balanced diet, physical activity, and medication when necessary, in managing high blood pressure.
“Because of the changes in our lifestyle, we now have this scourge of non-communicable diseases, your hypertension, diabetes, cancers.
“Those are the things that affect most of our members particularly as they grow older.
“Therefore with our wellbeing programme, it’s all about preventing people from getting those diseases, because the bulk of them, are actually lifestyle diseases.”
With their Pedal to Wellness event, Ndlovu said they are promoting a culture of wellness as he added: “as we believe that a healthy nation benefits us all, through our Pedal to Wellness event, we are not only encouraging participants to engage in physical activity, but also highlighting the critical role that cardiovascular fitness also known as cardiorespiratory fitness plays in overall health and well-being.”
And to promote healthy eating, Cimas Health Group also launched its iGo Recipe Book, a 30 recipe effort by dieticians and culinary experts.
It was revealed that the recipe book has a significant role in dealing with non-communicable diseases such as hypertension.
“The initiative aligns with Cimas’ mission to inspire healthier communities, the recipes are designed to promote balanced eating habits and help prevent and manage several health conditions,” said an official at the launch of the recipe book.
It was also reiterated that the iGo Recipe Book was part of the group’s “broader efforts to empower individuals to make healthier food choices.”
Speaking during a recent webinar on hypertension, Dr Gerald Katsamba said there are several risk factors of hypertension which are grouped as modifiable and non-modifiable.
“For the risks which are modifiable, there is unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, consumption of tobacco and alcohol and overweight.
“And for the risks which are non-modifiable, there is family history of hypertension, age over 65 years and co-existing diseases such as diabetes or kidney disease.”
He added that in order to prevent hypertension, one needs to have a healthy body weight, be physically active, eating healthy diet and avoiding tobacco use.
Dr Katsamba added “hypertension the silent killer, is diagnosed if when it is measured on two different days, >/140 mmHg and or >/90 mmHg on both days.
“This is a condition in which the blood vessels have persistently raised pressure and it (hypertension) is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease.”
Chocky, a fitness bae said: “usually people have to consult a doctor for them to manage hypertension.
“And when it comes to diet, if you have high blood pressure, you need to eat healthy, like eating fruits and vegetables.
“With exercises, you start with light weights but when you feel dizzy, you should take breaks in between the exercises.
“But the most recommended exercises is to take walks and swimming.
“Let me say it is good to consult first because we have different bodies that react differently,” said Chocky.
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is one of the most effective ways to manage and prevent hypertension.
Regular exercises, a balanced diet, reduced salt intake and avoiding harmful habits like smoking and excessive drinking, not only keep blood pressure in check but also promote overall-wellbeing.
