Pattern of some risk factors for cardiovascular disease in untreated Nigerian hypertensive patients.

OBJECTIVE: Coronary heart disease risk factors tend to cluster in patients with hypertension. In works done in Nigeria, the hypertensive subjects studied were those receiving treatment. Our aim was to evaluate the pattern of these risk factors in untreated hypertensive patients.

STUDY DESIGN: Fifty untreated hypertensives and fifty normotensives were recruited among salary earners in Horin, Nigeria, after excluding conditions that can cause dyslipidaemia. Plasma total cholesterol (TC), Triglycerides (TG), HDL Cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL Cholesterol (LDL-C), Fasting Plasma Glucose (FBG) and Body moras Index (BMI) were determined in the subjects.

RESULT: Prevalence of hypertension increased with age. Plasma TC, HDL-C, LDL-C and BMI were higher in hypertensives (TC; 4.54 mmol/L +/- 1.56, HDL-C; 1.28 mmol/ L +/- 0.45, LDL-C; 3.21 mmol/L +/- 1.34, BMI; 26.42 kg/m2 +/- 4.75) than in normotensive controls (TC; 3.20 mmol/L +/- 1.28, HDL-C; 0.93 mmol/L +/- 0.41, LDL-C; 2.28 mmol/L +/- 1.01, BMI; 23.37 kg/m2 +/- 4.75). Overweight was more common in hypertensives (70%) than in normotensives, and females constituted 53% of the overweight hypertensives.

CONCLUSION: The dyslipidaemia associated with hypertension, is here noted to be present before commencement of antihypertensive therapy. This observation should influence drug prescription for treatment of hypertension. Overweight hypertensives are likely to benefit from a concurrent control of blood pressure and body weight