Background Information on skin diseases in north-western Nigeria is scanty. We therefore conducted a prospective survey of 2611 new patients seen between August 1999 and July 2001 at the consultant medical / dermatology clinics of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria. Methods The personal bio-data of all consecutive patients with skin diseases were documented. They were examined and the diagnoses, which were based on the history of presentation and physical examination, were recorded. Bacteriologic, mycologic, and histologic confirmations were obtained as appropriate.Results Seven hundred and forty-six patients (28.6%) had skin diseases. There were 407 male and 339 female patients aged between 0.17 and 90 years; the median age was 27 years. The median ages for male and female patients were 28 and 25 years, respectively. There were 900 skin diseases seen in the 746 patients. The majority of skin diseases were found amongst the younger age group, which represented over 85% of the patients. Infectious and parasitic skin diseases accounted for 44.4% of cases; eczema, acne, papulosquamous, and pigmentary skin disorders were observed in 14.1%, 7.0%, 6.4%, and 6.0% of cases, respectively.Conclusions Preventable skin diseases are common in north-western Nigeria and predominantly affect individuals in the highly productive age group. Health education is therefore necessary to curb their spread, reduce the associated morbidity, and improve the health status of the population. A concerted effort should be made to train health workers in the diagnosis and treatment of the more common dermatologic conditions.

To determine the prevalence and relationship between prehypertension and hypertension, we studied 782 ethnic Hausa and Fulanis (men, 409; women, 373) aged 38.9 ± 13.9 years recruited by multistage cluster sampling. Demographic, anthropometry, metabolic and JNC VII-based blood pressure categories were obtained and analysed using univariate and multivariate models. The prevalence rates of prehypertension and hypertension were 58.7% (men 59.2%, women 58.2%) and 24.8% (men 25.9%, women 23.6%), respectively. Only 16.5% of the population had JNC VII defined optimum blood pressure. Compared to hypertension, prehypertension had earlier onset (second versus third decade) and peak (fourth versus fifth decade) of life. The peak and trough prevalence of hypertension and prehypertension, respectively were observed in the 5th decade of life. Obesity, abnormalities of glucose metabolism and insulin resistance were the major factors associated with prehypertension and hypertension. Multivariate analysis identified obesity and impaired glucose tolerance as independent predictors of hypertension. Of those with hypertension, 13.9% were aware of their high blood pressure status of which 85.7% were commenced on treatment and 12.5% achieved blood pressure control. Overall, 1.5% of the study population had blood pressure o140/90 mm Hg. It is concluded that less than 20% of people of Hausa and Fulani ethnicities had optimum blood pressure. These are predominantly in their second decade of life suggesting that rise in blood pressure begins early in this population. The fifth decade of life may represent a period of transition from prehypertension to hypertension.

Objective: This study examined the pattern of physicians' prescription of antihypertensive drugs and its possible effects on blood pressure control as well as physicians' compliance with recommended guidelines. Methods: Records of 145 patients aged 17-91 (mean: 52.6 ± 14.6) years, with male to female ratio of 1:1.2 were randomly selected. Information on antihypertensive prescriptions was recorded. Blood pressure control was defined as systolic and diastolic blood pressure less than 140 mm Hg and 90mmHg, respectively. Results: Of the 145 patients studied, 20% (29) were on monotherapy and 80% (116) on combination therapy. Of the patients on combination therapy, 61.2% (71), 33.6% (39) and 5.2% (6) were on 2, 3 and 4 drugs, respectively. Diuretic was the most frequently prescribed drug either as a single agent (44.8%) or as combination therapy (88.8%). Mean reductions in both systolic and diastolic blood pressures were more in patients on calcium channel blocker than those on diuretic monotherapy (t = 2.5 and 3.6 for reductions in systolic and diastolic BP, respectively; P < .05 for both), and, in patients on combination therapy than those on monotherapy (t = 3.64 and 3.27 for reductions in systolic and diastolic BP, respectively; P < .01 for both). Blood pressure control rate was 30.5%. Conclusion: Our results are consistent with the previously observed benefits of antihypertensive combination therapy, and demonstrate an apparent higher efficacy of calcium channel blocker monotherapy than diuretic monotherapy in blood pressure lowering in the study population. Major limitations of this work include its retrospective nature and the inability to determine the actual patients' adherence to therapy. Page | 129 8%) ou en combinaison avec d'autres agents antihypertenseurs. La réduction moyenne dans les deux cas de systolique et diastolique était plus élevée chez les patients prenant les diurétiques tout court. (= 2.5 et, 3.6 pour la réduction en systolique et diastolique respectirement; p<0.05 pour les deux cas), et chez les patients en thérapie combinée que chez ceux en monothérapie (t = 3,64 et 3, 27 pour la réduction en systolique et diastolique respectivement; p< 0.01) pour les deux cas_. Le taux de contrôle était 30, 5%. Conclusion: Nos résultats correspondent aux bénéfices déjà observés dans le régime de la thérapie antihypertensive combinée, et montre une efficacité clairement élevée de beta-bloquants de calcium (la chaine de bloquants de calcium) utilisés en monothérapie que les diurétiques utilisés en monothérapie dans l'abaissement de la tension artérielle au sein de l'échantillon de l'étude.

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