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'Ceramah' Detecting hypertension, the silent killer, at home
Self-checking: A patient measures his blood pressure using a monitoring gadget
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Self-checking: A patient measures his blood pressure using a monitoring gadget. (Courtesy of Youtube)
Diyah Prihastuti felt her blood pressure rise when she was seven months pregnant, but after seeking medical consultation, she was able to deliver her child normally by reducing her salt consumption.
However, her blood pressure began to rise again after she gave birth in 2015, and she was rushed to the hospital when she suddenly lost the ability to speak and move her right hand and her legs.
“The doctor checked my blood pressure and it reached 200 [mmHg]. I was hospitalized for a week as well since I had symptoms of a light stroke,” Diyah said.
Diyah then found out she suffered from high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.
Dubbed “the silent killer”, there are typically no visible signs of hypertension and it can strike anyone at any time, resulting in stroke, kidney failure or heart failure.
One of the main causes of hypertension is an unhealthy lifestyle — including poor eating habits consisting of foods with high cholesterol and sugar levels as well as a lack of exercise — but there are also genetic factors, such as family history.
In Diyah’s case, her father was also diagnosed with hypertension but unlike her, his blood pressure never reached 200. Balancing her job as a contractor along with taking care of her husband, her sister’s family and her two daughters increased Diyah’s stress and reduced the amount of time she had to work out.
Diyah is just one of the many Indonesians who suffer from hypertension.
Based on data from the 2018 Basic Health Survey (Riskesdas), hypertension affects 34.1 percent of Indonesia’s adult population, with kidney failure the most common result of the disease. This figure is a sharp increase from the 2013 Riskedas, which recorded the prevalence of the condition at 25.8 percent.
To prevent the prevalence of hypertension from increasing, neurologist Yuda Turana of the Indonesian Society of Hypertension (InaSH) highlighted the importance of checking one’s blood pressure at home, or, in Indonesian, cek tekanan darah di rumah (Ceramah).
“Even though blood pressure measurement in clinics remains the basic foundation [for diagnosing hypertension], Ceramah can provide important information and provides a more accurate diagnosis,” Yuda said.
Yuda added that Ceramah could help detect white coat hypertension and masked hypertension. White coat hypertension is a syndrome in which a patient’s feeling of anxiety in medical environments results in hypertension being detected at clinics when it is not detected at home.
Furthermore, Ceramah allows a person to regularly keep track of their blood pressure to prevent it from rising and, in the comfort of their own homes, ensure the measurement is accurate.
According to Yuda, the ideal time for Ceramah is early in the morning and at night before bed.
As Yuda suggested, Diyah has been regularly checking her blood pressure at home, especially when she feels a pain in her head. She has done so since recovering from her light stroke. To check by herself, Diyah uses a compact blood pressure monitor from Omron.
Diyah’s recovery took three months, and in addition to regularly checking her blood pressure, she has also adopted a healthier lifestyle by working out and making sure she has all her nutritional needs through a strict diet.
“Every morning, I go for a 30 minute morning walk and I eat salt-free, sugar-free and oil-free meals at home,” Diyah said.
— The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.
