We were reminded by this week's clinic photo that not only do rural Haitians have to deal with chronic poverty, but many also suffer from chronic diseases. Hypertension (high blood pressure) is one of them. In Haiti, men and women are equally burdened by this, and it can be difficult to control. For instance, last year we were saddened when when one of our own employees, who was under treatment for hypertension, died from a stroke.
Researchers have even studied hypertension in Haiti because the people lack one of the known risk factors - obesity. You can read about it here: http://www.longwoods.com/content/18546 This paper ends with the sentance. "Although age and weight are useful in predicting BP, there are unmeasured factors that account for most of the variation, which require future research." Unfortunately, such research is unlikely to happen soon. There doesn't seem to be a great deal of funding for the study of diseases that primarily affect poor Haitians.
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| Debilitated by hypertension |
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