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Top1. Introduction
Heart disease or cardiovascular disease is an ailment that has to do with heart or blood vessels ((Lackland & Weber, 2015), (World Health Organisation, 2015)). A lot of countries are contending with high and increasing rates of heart diseases, which is a foremost cause of morbidity, sudden and premature death of men over fifty-five years and women over sixty-five years of age all over the world (Alexander et al., 2007). Hypertension or high blood pressure (HBP) is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated (Djam & Kimbi, 2011). The condition is categorised as either primary (essential) or secondary hypertension. Approximately 90 to 95% of hypertension conditions are categorised as primary hypertension, whereas the remaining 5 to 10% are classified as secondary. Primary hypertension does not have a clear medical cause, while secondary hypertension is linked to identifiable causes such as vascular disorder, kidney diseases or endocrine diseases ((Imianvan & Obi, 2012), (Obahiagbon & Odigie, 2015)).
Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and this remains a global public health challenge (World Health Organisation, 2013). Hypertension is the persistent elevation of blood pressure (BP), and BP is the measurement of the force against the arteries as the heart pumps blood through the body (Luo et al., 2010). Hypertension is diagnosed with persistent elevation of the systolic blood pressure (SBP) > of 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) > 90 mmHg based on the average of two or more correct blood pressure measurement taken two or more contact with healthcare providers (World Health Organization, 2011).
In recent time, the number of people suffering from hypertension has increased, as people that are not up to fifty-five years are also affected. A study conducted recently showed that 6% of students admitted into a Nigerian University who are below 45 years were hypertensive (Asafa & Ogunlade, 2015). Hypertension and its cardiac complications is the most common echocardiographic indication and diagnosis at the cardiac care unit of a tertiary hospital across different ages ranging from less than 12 months to 97 years (Adebayo et al., 2013). The prevalence of hypertension in Nigeria is very high and also increasing ((Agomuoh et al., 2006), (Akintunde et al., 2010), (Ekwunife & Aguwa, 2011)). This disease in many countries is viewed as a second epidemic, thus replacing infectious diseases and becoming the leading cause of death ((Alexander et al., 2007), (Lopez et al., 2006)).
In most cases, people became aware of being hypertensive after damage had been done to their organs, making such patients to develop stroke, ischemic heart disease, congestive heart failure, marginal vascular condition, hypertensive retina disorder, or chronic kidney disease (Oladapo et al., 2012). Hypertension which is fast sending many Nigerians to their graves, is continuously on the increase and becoming a serious issue that requires urgent attention. Accordingly, it is imperative to control the illness, which involves carrying out necessary investigations, essential enquiries into the patient history and the administration of therapy by the general physician. The essence of this, is to ensure that the patients BP remain within the normal range (Chobanian et al., 2003).