President of Nigerian Cardiac Society, and Lecturer at the University of Ibadan College Hospital, Ugochukwu Ogah,on Tuesday, said that one woman out of 100 deliveries will develop heart failure after pregnancy.
He disclosed this while speaking to Journalists during the pre-conference activity for the 51st annual general and scientific conference of Nigerian Cardiac Society, themed Cardiovascular disease, prevention, progress, the gaps and the prospect, which should kick start tomorrow.
He said “One woman out of 100 deliveries will develop heart failure after pregnancy. Problem ranges from, If there is malnutrition, if they have heart diseases during pregnancy or have used some drugs too which put a lot of burden on the heart, and some can be genetic factors, and if it is uttered in the course of pregnancy may lead to the development of heart failure.
“It usually comes up in the last month of pregnancy and usually 5 months after delivery, many of these women come out with heart failure.
“It can be prevented, and the best way is having proper nutrition during pregnancy, proper antenatal care, even when they are having symptoms, it can easily be detected and prevented.”
He stressed that poor environment, housing and overcrowding can cause high risks of developing cardiovascular disease.
He said, “Poverty can cause cardiovascular disease and there are many ways we can access it, if you are poor, you leave in a poor environment, poor housing, poor background, overcrowding, you are at risk of developing one cardiovascular diseases
“When you are poor, you won’t have money to buy good food, so you will be eating poor food, which is not even good for the body. When you are poor, you won’t have money to buy drugs, for example if you are sick, some people can’t take care of themselves.
“ So poverty is a disease and it tends to run in families and every attempt must be made to break it. You go to school to break that chain; So in Nigeria, we must work towards breaking the yoke of poverty, so that we will live a better life.”
