LEVY, DIABETES, HYPERTENSION AND PHYSICAL EXERCISE
The late President Levy Mwanawasa was not only disciplined with financial matters. He was disciplined in a lot of life’s aspects, including “religiously” taking medication whenever it was prescribed.
No wonder he was troubled each time his hypertensive younger sister, the late Rona, refused to take medication insisting that “nature would cure” her. Out of his 59 years on earth, Mwanawasa lived with diabetes for 19 years and was hypertensive for 24 years. He told me that the moment he was found to be diabetic and hypertensive in the late 1980s, he quit alcoholic beverages including the fizzy drinks and juices.
“I have forgotten about alcohol. I just take water although once in a long while, I do sip some fruit juice,” he said. “But I had to take champagne to celebrate that time when I won the Presidential petition case in the Supreme Court.”
Hypertension and diabetes ran in Mwanawasa’s family. His father, Patrick Chipokota Mayamba Mwanawasa died in 1975 at the age of 53, a few weeks or months after Levy started his legal practice. He was unwell for some time and the family did not know what he was suffering from until he died.
But Levy suspected that his father could have died from high blood pressure. This theory was based on the fact that high blood pressure and diabetes later ran through the Mwanawasa family.
He recalled:
“My elder sister, Violet, died from a stroke ignited by high blood pressure. The immediate cause of Harry’s [his immediate younger brother] death was high blood pressure. Rona’s blood pressure sometimes gets as high as 270/150. Evelyn [the last born] also sometimes experiences that. It’s worse for Rona because she doesn’t believe in taking medicines. She believes that nature will cure her.
In my case, I take medicine very religiously. I have been hypertensive for 24 years and diabetic for 19 years. I take medication so both diseases are very well controlled. But there are times when they get out of control. When I had that first stroke in April, 2006, the blood pressure was low which was very surprising because I have never had low blood pressure. That low blood pressure is worse than high blood pressure. But I look after myself very well.”
Apart from religiously taking prescribed medication, Mwanawasa firmly believed in the power of physical exercise. You may recall that in April 2008, the news of then opposition leader Michael Sata’s heart attack reached him when he was busy exercising in the gym at Chamba Valley.
According to medical experts, physical exercise is crucial for diabetic patients for the purpose of managing blood sugar, improving insulin sensitivity, and preventing complications. Physical exercise can also help in lowering blood glucose levels, reduce insulin resistance, and improve cardiovascular health.
Mwanawasa also struggled with weight management so he was keen on physical exercise which played a vital role in managing his weight apart from reducing stress, and improving overall well-being.
Well folks, I thought I could share this little thought on the need for physical exercise as we go into the weekend.
Enjoy!
Amos Malupenga
Author of the book: LEVY PATRICK MWANAWASA, An Incentive For Posterity (2009).
Picture caption: Mwanawasa, as Republican Vice-President, captured exercising by taking a stroll at Government House in 1993.
Picture, courtesy of the family album.
You say he was disciplined then go on to list a number of times when he broke the rules. What are you trying to tell us??