Hypertension: Expert Warns Against Use Of Supplements Sold Online

Dr Michael Ajala, a Consultant Pathologist has cautioned Nigerians against using supplements sold online claiming to help lower high blood pressure.

According to the expert, most of the claims by the sellers of the supplements are false, stressing that those products can kill.

Ajala, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Help Diagnostics and Checkup Services, Lagos, revealed that most of the supplements are not registered with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Ajala who spoke during an interview with Punch asked people managing hypertension not to take drugs not prescribed for them by their doctors.

He urged hypertensive patients to avoid taking herbs and supplements as some of them have addictive actions.

The pathologist explained, “When you are taking antihypertensive drugs, don’t take herbs and supplements.

“We have a lot of them on the internet with spurious claims.

"You see a lot of them that are advertised, that they work, and things like that.

“When you are taking antihypertensive drugs, please, don’t take herbs or some other supplements because some of these things have addictive actions that may be damaging that will be bad for the health status of whoever is taking them.

“There are a lot of them on the internet but the question is, have they been tried?

"Are there trials? Some of them will even claim that they are NAFDAC approved when they are not.

“The question is you want to know the kind of trials that have gone on these supplements or herbs.

"Even if they have been tried somewhere else, have they been tried in our environment because the physiology may differ."