Essential hypertension is one of the most prevalent non-communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere in people of sub-Saharan origin. This study investigated the role of nitric oxide (NO) and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) activity in aetiology of essential hypertension. An analytical cross-sectional design was applied to 89 essential hypertensive participants and 89 healthy normotensive participants, making a total of 178. Blood was collected for G6PD activity and serum levels of nitric oxide, glucose, creatinine, urea and electrolytes. Analysis of variance was employed to establish whether there was a difference in mean levels of NO between those that were G6PD deficient and those who were not. Lower NO levels were observed in those who were G6PD deficient though the difference was not statistically significant. A logistic regression was used to investigate the association of age, sex, NO levels, and G6PD deficiency with essential hypertension as the dependant variable. It was established that with an increase in NO levels there was less likelihood of developing hypertension (odd ratio (OR)=0.99), whereas individuals with impaired G6PD activity were 2.9 times more likely to develop hypertension than those with normal activity (OR=2.9). Our conclusion was that NO is important in prevention of hypertension through its vasodilator effect on arterioles.

Background: Quality documentation of medication histories at the time of hospitaladmission with regard to accuracy and completeness is not documented at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), in Zambia. The aim of our study was to assess the accuracy and completeness of medication histories obtained in patients upon hospital admission. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective cross-sectional study at the medical admission ward, University Teaching Hospital, over a period of 3months. Our study enrolled 322 patients admitted to this ward who were above 18 years of age and were able to communicate verbally, if not, were accompanied by a caregiver. Clinical records of these patients were screened to review allmedications the patient was taking and patients/caregivers were interviewed to obtain acomplete medication history. All information obtained from patients through interviews was compared with medications recorded in the patient’s clinical records at the time of admission to the hospital. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences(SPSS) version 22 was used for all statistical calculations. Results: Of 287 clinical records, 175 (61%) incidents of inaccurate medication histories at the time of admission were identified and that medication histories in clinical records of patients were incomplete or poorly documented. Conclusion: Our study shows that 61% of medication histories in patients at the time of admission to hospitals are inaccurate. Quality documentation of medication histories in clinical records at the time of hospital admission is poor.