{"id":18907,"date":"2026-04-19T06:57:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T06:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umuakatimes.com\/topnews\/?p=18907"},"modified":"2026-04-19T06:57:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T06:57:48","slug":"diabetes-and-high-blood-pressure-are-killing-our-people-we-must-talk-about-it-by-lesley-agams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umuakatimes.com\/topnews\/diabetes-and-high-blood-pressure-are-killing-our-people-we-must-talk-about-it-by-lesley-agams\/","title":{"rendered":"Diabetes and High Blood Pressure Are Killing Our People. We Must Talk About It. By Lesley Agams."},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span> 70<\/span> Views<\/span><\/div>

I am a daughter of Umuaka. My father is buried here. His sister, my aunt, is buried here. A first cousin, who was like a twin to me, is buried here. They all died of diabetes complications. I have spent years wondering: Why them? Why so many of us? I have spent the last several months learning what the research says, and what my own body tells me. And I have come to believe that we are in the middle of a quiet crisis\u2014one that we are not talking about enough. This is not a distant disease. It is in our homes, our families, our lineage. What the Numbers Tell Us In 2020, through the Women’s Crisis Centre, a community\u2011based organization I work with, I helped conduct a survey in Umuaka. The findings were stark: diabetes and high blood pressure were the most prevalent diseases in our community. At the time, I thought it was a local observation. But the national data confirms it.<\/p>\n

Today, more than 11 million Nigerians are living with diabetes, and the Association of Clinical Endocrinologists of Nigeria warns that many more remain undiagnosed. One in ten Nigerian adults now has diabetes, and over half of them do not know it. Non\u2011communicable diseases, including diabetes and hypertension, now account for roughly 30% of all deaths in Nigeria. This is not a future threat. It is here. The Myth of the “City Disease” For a long time, people assumed diabetes and high blood pressure were problems of the wealthy, the urban, the \u201ccivilized.\u201d That is no longer true\u2014if it ever was. A 2026 study in a rural community in Edo State found that 18.2% of adults had diabetes and 23.6% had prediabetes \u2014rates that now match or exceed urban averages. In Cross River State, another 2026 study found a 6.8% diabetes prevalence in a rural population, with 60% of those affected undiagnosed. These studies confirm what my survey in Umuaka showed: rural Nigeria is no longer shielded from these diseases. We are seeing the same crisis in our villages that was once associated only with cities. Why Is This Happening? The question is often asked: Is it sugar? Is it our food? The answer is more complex.<\/p>\n

A 2025 analysis of over 500,000 people found that sugar\u2011sweetened beverages\u2014sodas, fruit juices, sweetened drinks\u2014are strongly linked to diabetes risk. Each daily serving of soda increased risk by 25%, and fruit juice by 5%. But other forms of sugar, eaten in whole foods with fiber and fat, did not show the same harm.<\/p>\n

Our ancestors in Umuaka ate high\u2011carbohydrate foods\u2014yams, cassava, rice\u2014but they also walked miles every day. They worked the land. They were rarely sedentary. The problem is not our traditional food. The problem is the mismatch: we now eat the same food, but we no longer move the way we used to. We drink sweetened drinks that flood our system with sugar, without the fiber that used to slow its absorption. And we sit more than we stand. A 2025 analysis of the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program found that physical activity alone reduced diabetes incidence across all participants. For those who were least active, every increase in movement lowered their risk by 12%. My father, after contracting Nile River fever in his 50s, became largely inactive. In his last years, he was in a wheelchair. His sister, my aunt, also became inactive with age. Both died of diabetes complications. I do not believe it was the food alone. It was the inactivity that made the food deadly.<\/p>\n

The Family Connection Genetics matters. A 2026 study in Edo State found that having a close relative with diabetes made a person nearly four times more likely to develop the disease themselves. I see this in my own family: my father, his sister, my cousin. The thread runs through us. But genes are not destiny. The same study showed that the vast majority of those affected\u201475.6%\u2014were unaware they had the condition. The disease is not inevitable. But it will go unnoticed, and it will kill, if we do not learn about it and act. What We Can Do I am not a doctor. But I am a woman who has spent months learning how to listen to my own body, and I want to share what the science says. 1. Move. The evidence is overwhelming. The Diabetes Prevention Program, a 27\u2011year study, found that lifestyle intervention\u2014diet plus physical activity\u2014reduced diabetes incidence by 58%. The Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study followed participants for 13 years and found a 36% reduction. The Da Qing study in China followed people for 30 years and found that lifestyle changes delayed diabetes onset by a median of four years and increased life expectancy. We do not need to run marathons. Walking, farming, swimming\u2014any movement that we do consistently matters.<\/p>\n

A 2025 Harvard\u2011affiliated study found that adding physical activity to a healthy diet reduced diabetes risk by 31% compared to diet alone. 2. Rethink What We Drink. The same soda and sweetened drinks that were once treats are now daily. The BYU study found that even one daily serving increases risk. Replace them with water. Let water be the drink of our homes. 3. Eat Our Food, But with Awareness. Our yams, our soups, our vegetables\u2014these are not the enemy. But we must eat them with movement, and we must avoid eating late at night. Studies show that late\u2011night eating disrupts blood sugar regulation. I have learned this from my own meter: when I eat starch at dinner, my morning sugar rises. When I eat earlier and without starch, it returns to normal. 4. Know Your Numbers. Blood pressure and blood sugar are silent. They do not warn before they damage. The Cross River study found that 60% of diabetics were undiagnosed. The Edo study found 75.6%. We must check. We must know. We must stop waiting for symptoms that may come too late. 5. Teach Our Children.
\n\"\"
\nThe habits we build now will shape the health of the next generation. A public health consultant at the recent Association of Clinical Endocrinologists conference warned that unhealthy lifestyles can have intergenerational consequences. If we become diabetic, our children are at higher risk. The cycle can be broken, but only if we choose to break it. A Daughter\u2019s Plea My father was a proud man. My aunt was a kind woman. My cousin was my twin in spirit. They are gone now, and I carry their memory with me. I do not write this to shame anyone. I write it because I do not want to bury another person I love from a disease that we can prevent, manage, and treat, if only we know. We have the knowledge. We have the evidence. Now we must talk about it. In our homes, in our churches, in our community meetings. We must stop treating diabetes and high blood pressure as distant concerns, or as conditions of old age. They are here, in Umuaka, right now.<\/p>\n

My father taught me to love our history, our land, our people. I am proud of who we are. But I want us to be here to enjoy it. Let us walk. Let us drink water. Let us test our blood. Let us teach our children. Let us live. Lesley Agams is a daughter of Umuaka, a community organizer, and a researcher whose 2020 community\u2011based survey helped document the rising prevalence of diabetes and hypertension in the community. She is currently in Abuja. References 1.Association of Clinical Endocrinologists of Nigeria (ACEN). 2026. Conference in Kano. Reported by Leadership. 2. International Diabetes Federation. 2026. IDF Diabetes Atlas, 11th edition. 3. International Diabetes Federation. 2025. Diabetes and NCDs in Nigeria. 4. Nigerian Journal of Medicine. 2026. \u201cPrevalence of Diabetes Mellitus and Prediabetes in a Rural Community in Edo State, Nigeria.\u201d Jan\u2013Mar 2026. 5. Ibom Medical Journal. 2026. \u201cPrevalence and Predictors of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Rural Cross River State, Nigeria.\u201d Jan 2026. 6. BYU Study. 2025. Analysis of 500,000 participants on sugar\u2011sweetened beverages and diabetes risk. 7. Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). 2025. 27\u2011year follow\u2011up analysis. Diabetes Care. 8. Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study. 13\u2011year follow\u2011up.Diabetes Care.9. Da Qing Study.30\u2011year follow\u2011up.The Lancet. 10. Harvard\u2011affiliated study. 2025. Mediterranean diet, caloric restriction, and physical activity for diabetes prevention. JAMA Network Open. 11. Vanguard. 2026. \u201cMedical Experts Advocate Front\u2011of\u2011Pack Labelling to Reduce Diabetes Prevalence.\u201d Feb 2026. 12. Dr. Gerald Chinasa. 2026. Interview on drug abuse, self\u2011medication, and NCDs. Jan 2026.<\/p>\n

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