Presentation of glaucoma in the greater Accra Metropolitan Area of Ghana

Abstract

Background: Creatinine (Cr) has been implicated as an independent predictor of hypertension and exercise has been reported as adjunct therapy for hypertension. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of continuous training programme on blood pressure and serum creatinine concentration in black African subjects with hypertension. Methods: Three hundred and fifty seven male patients with mild to moderate (systolic blood pressure [SBP] between 140-180 & diastolic blood pressure [DBP] between 90-109 mmHg) essential hypertension were age matched and randomly grouped into continuous & control groups. The continuous group involved in an 8 weeks continuous training (60-79% HR reserve) of between 45minutes to 60 minutes, 3 times per week, while the control group remain sedentary. SBP, DBP, VO 2 max, serum Cr, body mass index (BMI), waist hip ratio (WHR) and percent (%) body fat. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and Pearson correlation tests were used in data analysis. Results: Findings of the study revealed significant decreased effects of continuous training programme on SBP, DBP, Cr, BMI, WHR, % body fat and significant increase in VO 2 max at p< 0.05. Serum Cr is significantly and negatively correlated with SBP (-.335), DBP (.194), BMI (.268), WHR (-.258) and % body fat (-.190) at p<0.05. Conclusion:The present study demonstrated a rationale bases for the adjunct therapeutic role of moderate intensity continuous exercise training as a multitherapy in the down regulation of blood pressure, serum Cr, body size and body fat in hypertension.

Prevalence and clinical profile of glaucoma patients in rural Nigeria—A hospital based study

“…There are mixed reports on the effect of gender on glaucoma prevalence. The present study found no significant difference in glaucoma prevalence between male and females, which was similar to previous studies from Ghana [ 44 , 45 ]. In contrast, studies from Nigeria [ 5 , 40 , 41 ], Ghana [ 46 ] and South Korea [ 44 ] reported a higher prevalence in men than women.…”

“…The present study found no significant difference in glaucoma prevalence between male and females, which was similar to previous studies from Ghana [ 44 , 45 ]. In contrast, studies from Nigeria [ 5 , 40 , 41 ], Ghana [ 46 ] and South Korea [ 44 ] reported a higher prevalence in men than women. Moreover, gender predilection of glaucoma has not been established suggesting the need for more studies to determine the association of glaucoma with gender.…”

Clinical Characteristics and Stage at Presentation of Glaucoma Patients in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…Glaucoma is asymptomatic until the relatively late stages of disease. This often leads to delayed presentation in Africa where understanding of the disease and access to health care may be limited, often too late to offer sight-saving therapy in 1 or both eyes 10–12. Treatment of glaucoma depends on the stage of disease at presentation, local availability of different interventions, and their relative acceptability to patients.…”

“…To design a practical tailored strategy for glaucoma management in SSA, it is important to have an in-depth understanding of local differences in presentation across the region. Existing studies have reported the severity of glaucoma at presentation in various African countries, in some reports with 21%–56% blind (<6/60) in the better-seeing eye 10–15. These have mostly been conducted in single clinics using different grading systems,13–16 making it difficult to compare the stage at presentation across different settings or to acquire a comprehensive picture across SSA.…”

“…This often leads to delayed presentation in Africa where understanding of the disease and access to health care may be limited, often too late to offer sightsaving therapy in 1 or both eyes. [10][11][12] Treatment of glaucoma depends on the stage of disease at presentation, local availability of different interventions, and their relative acceptability to patients. Patient acceptance may be further complicated in SSA by refusal of surgical treatment in the remaining seeing eye, which in many cases also has advanced disease, or unrealistic expectations of improvement of visual function.…”