Dyslipidaemia in Hypertensives in South-South Nigeria

Background: There is a strong relationship between hypertension and dyslipidaemia, and both can increase the risk of developing coronary heart disease.
Methods: A total of One hundred and eighty (180) participants were recruited for this study; out of which, there was one hundred and fifty (150) hypertensive patients and thirty (30) control subjects that were age- and socio-economically matched with the hypertensive patients. Lipid profile test was carried out for them using standard laboratory techniques.
Results: Fifty-four percent (n=69) of the hypertensive patients were females; majority of the female hypertensive patients were within the age bracket of 50-59years (45.7%) while majority of the male hypertensive patients were within the age bracket of 40-49 years (53.6%). With the exception of HDL-cholesterol values which were comparable with the Normotensive controls, the hypertensive patients had significantly higher lipid profiles (triglyceride, total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol). There was positive correlation between total cholesterol, triglycerides (0.399, p<0.05), LDL-cholesterol (r=0.609, p<0.05) and HDL-cholesterol (r=0.866, p<0.05) among the hypertensive patients, also, HDL-cholesterol positively correlated with LDL-cholesterol (r=0.218, p<0.05) but in the normotensive patients, LDL-cholesterol negatively correlated with triglyceride (r=-0.409, p<0.05) and positively correlated with total cholesterol (r=0.876, p<0.05).
Conclusion: Hypertensive Nigerians have significantly higher lipid profile except the HDL-cholesterol which is comparable in both hypertensive and Normotensive Nigerians. This shows that the dyslipidaemia in hypertensive Nigerians majorly involve plasma total cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol.