Betty Twumasi Ankrah never imagined she would be diagnosed with hypertension in her twenties. A nurse and public health expert, Betty was just twenty-eight years old and pregnant with her second child in 2013 when doctors discovered her blood pressure was dangerously high.
“I weighed about one hundred kilograms and was completely exhausted from juggling many responsibilities,” she recalls.
Working at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital at the time, Betty first sensed something was wrong when she began feeling unusually uncomfortable, even after eating. Aware of her family history—her mother also lived with high blood pressure—she decided to check her blood pressure. The reading was over one hundred and fifty over one hundred millimetres of mercury.
Repeated checks showed an even more alarming rise, peaking at one hundred and seventy-eight over one hundred and twenty-two. Doctors immediately intervened, performing a Caesarean section to safely deliver her baby and placing her on hypertension medication.
Beyond the physical impact, the diagnosis took an emotional toll. Betty struggled with shame and fear, feeling she was “too young” to be living with hypertension.
“I felt shy taking the medication,” she admits. “I even told my colleagues I had already checked my blood pressure and it was one hundred and twenty over eighty.”
That denial nearly cost her life. She later collapsed at work, prompting a senior doctor to confront her about hiding her condition. He encouraged her to accept the diagnosis, sharing that his own wife was living with hypertension and managing it well.
The death of her mother marked a turning point.
“I started taking my medication seriously and adopted a healthier lifestyle—exercise, weight loss, everything,” she says. “The weight started coming down.”
In 2015, a moment of deep reflection at a gym further transformed her outlook. “I heard a voice asking me, ‘If you die now, what will people remember you for?’” she recalls.
That question sparked a mission. Betty went on to establish a foundation dedicated to hypertension education and awareness, aiming to help others avoid the mistakes she once made.
Since 2017, she has screened more than two hundred and fifty people for high blood pressure and continues to share practical strategies for managing the condition. She is now a member of the International Society of Hypertension and the founder of Life from 30, Ghana’s hypertension awareness organisation.
Health professionals echo her message. A public health nurse at the Amamorley Clinic in Ablekuma, in the Ga West Municipality, Dorcas Effah Agyeiwaa, urges people diagnosed with hypertension to accept their condition and take medication seriously.
She advises reducing the intake of meat and salty foods, increasing the consumption of fruits, and exercising regularly.
“I know someone who had high blood pressure and didn’t take it seriously,” she warns. “He suffered a stroke.”
From denial to advocacy, Betty Twumasi Ankrah’s journey highlights the power of early detection, acceptance and lifestyle change—and how one personal struggle can become a lifeline for many others.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com
