The famous University of Nigeria, Nsukka inaugural lecture is one the university community looks up to. The lecture series which started in 1976 had its 87th edition on October 30.
As expected, it was a day the university eggheads and other academics gather to listen to the guest lecturer and what he had in stock.
However, since the introduction of the inaugural lecture series 38 years ago none of the researchers had given attention to the heart, despite its importance to the human body.
Therefore, when the members of the university community gathered at the Moot Court Hall, Enugu Campus of the institution to listen to renowned cardiologist, Prof Sam Ike, of the Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, as he dissected “The Matter of the Heart”, which was his topic for this year’s inaugural lecture, it was all applause for the scholar.
The choice of the lecture topic was said to be apt as hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases in the country were on the rise.
As he kicked off, Prof Ike described the heart as the centre of cardiovascular system, explaining that it works with only a single organ as a double pump propels blood through the lungs (pulmonary circulation) and the rest of the body (systemic circulation) simultaneously.
He said that in human anatomy, the heart is a hollow, pump-like organ of blood circulation composed mainly of rhythmically contractile smooth muscle, located in the chest between the lungs and slightly to the left, and consisting of four chambers.
According to him, the chambers are a right atrium that receives blood returning from the body via the superior and inferior vena cavae, a right ventricle that pumps the blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs for oxygenation, a left atrium that receives the oxygenated blood via the pulmonary veins and passes it through the mitral valve, and a left ventricle that pumps the oxygenated blood via the aorta throughout the body.
Prof Ike, who hails from Enuguabo village, Ufuma in Anambra State also disclosed that “at rest, the heart pumps about 7,200 litres of blood per day, equivalent of 100 times of a 70-litre tank vehicle, through about 96,000 kilometers of blood vessels, the equivalent of travelling from Enugu to Maiduguri, about 1606Km, or even still, 100 times the speed of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet cruising at the speed of 920Km per hour.
He disclosed that the heart is located on the muscular diaphragm separating the thoracic and abdominal cavities, adding that the thoracic space in which it sits is known as the mediastinum which weighs about 283.5gm,1/250th of the average 70kg man, in the adult, consisting of two upper chambers, the atria and the two lower chambers, the ventricles.
According to him, until in the 17th Century, two separate systems were thought to be involved in blood circulation: the natural system, containing venous blood which had its origin in the liver, and the vital system, containing arterial blood and the “spirits” which flowed from the heart, distributing heat and life to all parts like bellows, the lungs fanned and cooled this vital blood.
“While we take a look at the most basic, but vital rudiments of knowledge on hypertension, the kingmaker and chief promoter of the matters of the heart, on one hand; and on the other hand, we use it as a template for discussing the lifestyle modification factors and habits – which form the pivot for the non-drug treatment of the cardiovascular diseases,” he said.
The medical expert pointed out that high blood pressure which is also called hypertension, occurs if the blood pressure is almost always persistently higher than the levels established as normal for both the systolic and diastolic values, which have been accepted to be 140/90mmHg in an adult at rest.
On symptoms of hypertension, Ike, who doubles as a venerable in the Anglican Communion, observed that the ailment usually produces no warning signs or symptoms, stressing that you usually cannot feel blood pressure even when it is unusually high, but added that a few people may have symptoms such as dizziness, nose-bleeds, chest pain, palpitation or headaches while a good majority of individuals never knew that their blood pressure was elevated until it was checked by a health professional.
While categorizing causes of hypertension into primary and secondary, the cardiologist identified certain kidney and blood vessel diseases, hormonal disorders, birth defects and other factors as the major causes of hypertension, saying that some cases could be corrected by surgery or controlled by medication.
He noted that some families tend to be susceptible to high blood pressure, adding that if both parents have hypertension; the risk of their children developing it would be approximately 50 per cent.
“Though, it is more common in older age groups, it can occur at any age, nearly half over the age of 64 have it, and it is usually first detected between ages 55 and 60. And before the age of 50, it occurs more frequently in men than women, the rates are about equal at age 50, but by 55 to 60, more women have it,” he said.
He, however, traced some factors such as weight, cigarette smoking, excessive salt intake, physical inactivity, stress, alcohol intake and diabetes as leading to hypertension, adding that cigarette smoking stimulates the heart, making it beat faster and narrows the blood vessels, making it hard to pump out blood, with the tendency to increase blood pressure just as it decreases the supply of oxygen to the heart and body tissues.
For better management of cardiovascular diseases in the country, the professor called on the Federal Government to upgrade the cardiology unit of the Department of Medicine, University of Nigeria, to an Institute of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine, to accommodate the growing and emerging needs of the cardiovascular disease, which is the most important cause of non-communicable diseases worldwide, which is also ravaging not less than one third of our adult population in the country.
He suggested that since some of these ailments are life-long, and many of them capital intensive in evaluation and treatment, they need to be greatly funded and subsidized, to ease the burden of cost and enhance the productivity of their sufferers in different sectors of the economy.
He also suggested the development of a protocol as a matter of national importance, “whereby many of the investigative tools and diagnostic agents – most of which we have not yet developed technology for- attract import duty waiver and prompt clearance,” pointing out that this would definitely boost the cardiovascular health service delivery and greatly attenuate the hemorrhaging capital flight that obtains currently through medical tourism for proper diagnosis and adequate treatment abroad.
Prof Ike also called for the equipping of all the centers with state-of-the-art facilities, especially the National Cardiothoracic Centre of Excellence at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Ituku-Ozalla, to enable it handle some complicated cases.
He expressed that the UNTH has some of the best brains and the most experienced hands in the field of cardiology in the West Coast.
Ike pointed out that with such brains as Professors Anyanwu, Martin Aghaji, Basden Onwubere, Sam Ike, among nine other cardiovascular and cardiothoracic specialists, the establishment of a fully functional cardiothoracic centre comparable to the best anywhere in the world would not be asking for too much.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academics, Prof Polycarp Chigbu, reassured that the present administration would continue to invest in programmes that would stimulate research and scholarship in the institution, and praised the intellectual prowess exhibited by Prof Ike on the occasion.
In a chat with newsmen at a cocktail party jointly organized for guests by Prof. Ike and wife, Ruby, to round off the programme, the Chief Medical Director of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Ituku- Ozalla, Enugu State, Dr. Chris Amah, said that the hospital had witnessed massive infrastructural development since his appointment, adding that apart from the establishment of new departments to handle new cases, additional patients’ wards and new offices for staff had been built.
Dr Amah, fondly called the doyen of pediatric medicine by his professional colleagues, said that although open heart surgery programme at the hospital was now a routine, much were still needed to be done in the area of facilities as he appealed for improved funding.
The inaugural lecture was attended by key officers of the university and other members of the academia from within and outside the country.
Among them were the Provost, College of Medicine, Prof. Ernest Onwasigwe, and his predecessor, Prof. Basden Onwubere; Deputy Vice Chancellor UNEC, Prof. Ifeoma Enemo; four former deputy vice chancellors of UNEC, Prof. Sam Ohaegbulam of the Memfys International Hospital for Neurosurgery Enugu; Prof John Umeh; Prof. Bede Ibe; and Prof. Rich Umeh; Dr. Emma Akpa, an alumnus of the University of Ibadan; the father of Prof Ike, Mr Hezekiah Eberegbulam Okoli Ike; and Prof. Margaret Aghaji, wife of the late provost, College of Medicine UNN, Prof. Aloy Aghaji.
Others were former Dean, Faculty of Dentistry, UNN, Dr. Linda Oge Okoye, former Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, Prof. Chuba Okoye, Dr Chima Onoka of the College of Medicine while a team of the clergy was led by Archbishop Emmanuel Chukwuma of the Anglican Communion, Enugu.
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