The recent passing of music legend Onyeka Onwenu, who collapsed and passed away following a performance at a birthday celebration in Lagos on July 30th, has drawn attention to the increasing occurrences of sudden deaths among Nigerians.
In addition to her tragic incident, there have been numerous other documented cases of such deaths.
For example, in June, a deputy comptroller responsible for revenue at the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Essien Etop Andrew, collapsed and died while addressing questions at the Public Account Committee of the House of Representatives.
Additionally, in February, at least five Nigerians lost their lives while watching the semi-final match between Nigeria and South Africa at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Côte d‘Ivoire.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines sudden death as an unexpected, non-violent passing occurring within 24 hours from the start of symptoms.
The surge in “sudden deaths” has generated significant fear and concern, with many Nigerians expressing belief that these fatalities are becoming more frequent.
However, Medical Practitioner Dr. Olamide Akinfolarin clarified that the ‘sudden death’ syndrome is not exclusive to Nigeria, as in the United States, an estimated 300,000 deaths are attributed to cardiac arrest, one of the conditions that can lead to sudden death.
Regarding the causes of sudden deaths, Akinfolarin noted that while there are various factors that can contribute, stroke is a common reason for this type of unexpected passing.
“ Stroke means that a part of the brain is no longer getting blood supply. Two things can cause it. It can either be that blood vessel that supplies blood to that part of the brain burst and so that part no longer gets blood. Or if over time, things accumulate and block the place and that causes a stroke,” he said.
Another thing that can cause sudden death, the doctor stated, is cardiac condition.
“ The common one is a heart attack. We call it a myocardial infarction. It is caused by a block supply of blood to the heart. When a tissue is not getting a blood supply, it naturally dies. The heart will not be able to perform the function it needs to pump blood. When a person is having a heart attack, it is not fatal if it is addressed. What happens if the heart attack is not addressed is that it can lead to cardiac arrest which is death,” he noted.
Akinfolarin emphasize further, “There are other things that can happen especially for someone who is already sick. If a person has a pulmonary embolism. This simply means a sudden loss of blood supply to the lungs. In this case, the vessel that supplies blood to the lungs, has suddenly blocked. It could be due to fats, accumulating and blocking it.”
A medical doctor highlighted Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) as a cause of sudden death, commonly affecting young individuals.
HCM is a condition where the heart muscle thickens abnormally, impeding blood flow and often going undetected, making it a silent yet potentially fatal condition.
“Most of these other things I talked about, are found in people that are either older, or people that already have some sort of underlying conditions but this one usually happens to young people. If the young person doesn’t know that he has that condition, if he exert himself physically so much, it can lead to sudden death. We have seen where a footballer playing on the field just dropped dead,” he noted.
Dr. Akinfolarin discussed the interconnected nature of risk factors for sudden death, noting that they often influence one another.
He illustrated this by explaining how aging increases the likelihood of developing hypertension, which in turn raises the risk of stroke and heart attack.
He categorized risk factors into two groups: modifiable (those that can be controlled or changed) and non-modifiable (those that cannot be altered), emphasizing the importance of addressing controllable risk factors to mitigate the risk of sudden death.
“Age is a non-modifiable factor. You can’t stop yourself from aging. It means you have to be careful when you approach a certain age. For stroke, once you are approaching 55 and above, you should be mindful. Practically speaking, I will even say 40 because of my experience with people. I have seen someone who had a stroke at 39 and he died from it.
“Another non-modifiable factor is family history. This is when it runs in the family. All the things I mentioned above can be genetic. If the person, for example, has a family member who died of a stroke, he may need to be careful,” he said.
One of the modifiable risk factors, he noted, is obesity. “It is when a person’s body mass index is above 30. It puts a person at risk of hypertension. It also puts a person at risk of having an accumulation of plague. The bigger a person, the more there is compression of vessels, which raises the blood pressure. Obesity is a risk factor in having a heart attack and stroke.”
He highlighted that another modifiable risk factor is hypertension, stating that people have the misconception that only those who are obese, suffer from the disease.
“What people need to understand is that being black alone puts you at risk of having hypertension. You don’t need to have a family member who has hypertension, just the fact that you are black, puts you at risk of having hypertension,” he mentioned.
Dr. Akinfolarin identified physical inactivity as another modifiable risk factor, highlighting the distinction between being busy or working hard and engaging in regular physical activity, emphasizing the importance of making time for exercise to reduce the risk of sudden death.
“You might be the hardest worker on the planet but you are not a physically active person. People feel that they work hard and therefore, remove themselves when we talk about a sedentary lifestyle.
“For example, you are an IT guru, you work 12 hours a day. You are seated in front of your screen for 12 hours. You only stand up to use the bathroom and come back. When you finish, you are exhausted and drive home with the long traffic and all. You are highly inactive as long as you are not exercising. I am talking about physical activity and not mental activity,” he stated.
Dr. Akinfolarin also listed diabetes and stress as additional risk factors for sudden death.
He emphasized the importance of prevention and advocated for Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria, believing it would significantly reduce the incidence of sudden deaths by ensuring citizens have access to regular health check-ups, early detection, and management of underlying conditions.
“ There is no health insurance. We have to pay for everything out of our pocket. This prevents people from having good health seeking behaviour,” he said.
Another way of preventing sudden deaths, he noted, was for the government to create more awareness on the causes and risk factors.
“Get the information to the grassroot because sudden death affects everyone.
“I think if people are informed about their health and there is good health coverage, it will help a great deal to prevent sudden death,” he said.
He also urged Nigerians to have good health seeking behavior.
“It is hard to see a Nigerian that comes to the hospital when nothing is wrong with them. Have good health seeking behaviour. For example, when you are having a constant headache, or feeling tired all the time, you are having chest pain…maybe it is time you go check yourself,” the General practitioner at Silver Cross Hospital, Abuja, summarized.
