QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: NURSE PRACTITIONER IFEANY MADU

‘Our community needs more education on healthy eating habits’

CenterWell Senior Primary Care supports every dimension of senior health — physical, emotional, and social wellness. The mission: making sure seniors live a healthier, happier life. Centerwell patients are cared for by experienced, compassionate doctors and supported by a team of professionals focused on you at 14 locations across the Silver State. 

Centerwell team member Ifeany Madu is a nurse practitioner dedicated to motivating his patients to embrace better health practices. He sat down with us for a candid conversation on how to maintain strength in the body and mind.

What brought you to CenterWell? 

I am originally from Nigeria and came to Las Vegas in 2019 to work as a nurse practitioner. In my capacity I manage chronic diseases such as hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes and more. I also specialize in pain management and perform needed injections to patients in need. I also like to educate my patients on preventive methods to maintain good health.

Why do you think so many chronic diseases affect African Americans? 

I don’t know for sure, but when a patient comes in to see me at Centerwell suffering from hypertension, I usually notice that most of these patients are African-American. I do believe that traditional cultural diets contribute to high blood pressure problems and overall health issues. Many medications don’t always work to reduce high blood pressure and are only really water pills. It is important for patients to get prescribed medication that really works best to reduce blood pressure. And we at Centerwell pay attention to patients’ response to prescribed medications to make sure that they work best to reduce the effects of illnesses.

What kind of preventive health measures do you ask your patients to do? 

It is important to reduce one’s salt intake, and to try to reduce or eliminate fried foods from their diets. I understand that cultural foods taste delicious with a lot of flavor and one should know that salts are already in certain foods so there is no need to add it when you have a meal. I think our community really needs more education on healthy eating habits and to know what bad things need to be taken away.

What do you think is the state of our senior population’s health in Southern Nevada? 

We are seeing a lot of seniors at CenterWell, and many of the patients we see are proactive about wanting to take care of their health. More and more people are trying to get their health back. We at CenterWell play an active role with our patients in educating them on good health practices. Many respect the care we give and really try to do what we suggest. They are really trying their best to get the suggested exams and cancer screenings to make sure their health is better. It is an objective at CenterWell to be there when a patient needs us. Flu season is coming up and many will need to be seen in a timely manner. CenterWell makes sure if there is an urgent health concern, you can come … to one of our facilities and be seen and cared for.