Did a Nigerian doctor create cure for hypertension?

A 36-second video has been shared on Facebook showing a Channels TV broadcaster reading the news and announcing that a Nigerian doctor created a drug that could normalise blood pressure in three days.

In the video, he was heard saying, “A Nigerian doctor has created a drug that normalises blood pressure in three days. In just one cause of treatment, your body will become completely healthy. The risk of stroke and heart attack will be reduced to zero. Nigerians have already tried the drug and got rid of hypertension. Join the hypertension treatment campaign, today is the last day of the campaign.”

The caption at the bottom of the screen above the scroll bar reads, “Shocking Discovery.”

The video has garnered many reactions with 33,000 views, over 200 likes and 78 shares.

Other Facebook users took it to their pages in a bid to inform their audience, without checking the authenticity of the video.

Verification

After a careful look at the video, fact-checkers at Daily Trust on sunday noticed that there was no sync between the voice and the lip movement of the broadcaster.

A further manual search on the Channels TV YouTube and social media showed that there had been no report of a hypertension cure reported by the station.

Similarly, the video did not say the name of the doctor, how the drug was created and if it has been accepted by necessary regulatory bodies.

Also, using Deep ware to scan, the result revealed that the video was a deepfake, another red flag was the urgency of asking people to join the campaign.

Background

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a longterm medical condition in which blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated.

High blood pressure does not cause symptoms; however, it is a major risk factor for stroke, heart failure, vision loss and dementia, among others.

It has also been a cause of premature death worldwide.

According to an article by the World Health Organisation (WHO), high blood pressure is when the pressure in your blood vessels is too high (usually 140/90 mmHg or higher).

The prevalence of hypertension varies across regions and country income groups.

The WHO African Region has the highest prevalence of hypertension (27%) while the WHO Region of the Americas has the lowest prevalence of hypertension (18%).

The number of adults with hypertension increased from 594million in 1975 to 1.13billion in 2015, with the increase seen largely in low - and middleincome countries. This increase is due mainly to a rise in hypertension risk factors in those populations.

The article highlighted that checking your blood pressure is the best way to know if you have hypertension. If not treated it can cause other health conditions like kidney disease; and people with very high blood pressure (180/120 or higher) can experience severe headache, chest pain, dizziness, nausea, blurred vision, nosebleeds and abnormal heart rhythm.

Things that can increase high blood pressure include older age, genetics, being overweight or obese, high-salt diet and drinking too much alcohol.

Hypertension occurs in approximately 8 to 10 pregnancies and can be classified as preexisting hypertension, gestational hypertension or pre-eclampsia.

It further noted that there’s no known cure for hypertension; however, medicines can be recommended by a doctor for chronic cases.

In other cases, eating healthy, exercising and quitting alcohol and tobacco help rather than taking medication.

Conclusion

Based on the available information, we can confirm that the video in circulation claiming that a cure for hypertension has been created by a Nigerian doctor is false. It is important to note that there is no cure for hypertension yet.

This fact check was produced in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD).