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Tag: Health

  • Malnutrition kills 2,300 Nigerian children daily – NGO

    Malnutrition kills 2,300 Nigerian children daily – NGO

    Mr.Ubah Nnaemeka, the Project Officer, Civil Society Scaling-up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), on Tuesday said malnutrition accounts for the death of 2,300 Nigerian children daily.

    Nnaemeka made this known on Tuesday in Ilorin at a two-day Advocacy Skills and Strategic training organised for members of the organisation in Kwara.

    Quoting the National Demographic and Health Survey of 2013, he also said that only 17 per cent of mothers in Nigeria breastfeed their children.

    He listed three indicators of malnutrition as over-nutrition, under-nutrition and micro-nutrient deficiency.

    According to him, if nothing positive is done to stem the rate; there is possibility that malnutrition may claim more lives of children.

    He said that globally, out of a population of seven billion, no fewer than two billion were suffering from micro-nutrient malnutrition.

    “Out of the five billion adults worldwide, nearly two billion are overweight or obese with one in every 12 persons having type II diabetes,” Nnaemeka said.

    He said that malnutrition has the ability of sapping intelligence from childhood and by extension, compromising the future of Nigerian leaders.

    The project officer said at present, Nigeria accounts for 11 per cent of the total global under-five deaths, with 37 per cent of children under the age of five stunted.

    Earlier, Dr Uthman Mubashir, the Chairman, CS-SUNN Local Working Group, said that the organisation was concerned with the nutrition of women and children.

    He described malnutrition as a collective problem that needs collective response from all stakeholders.

    Mubashir called for a strong voice by policy makers to create the desired change in the country in respect of malnutrition.

     

  • Tips on how to live above 100 years old

    Tips on how to live above 100 years old

    More than 100,000 people aged 100 or over are found in Spain. Spain is the country with the greatest life expectancy after Japan, OECD data, and the latest population census shows.

    Over a year, media photographer Andrea Comas interviewed Spaniards aged 100 or more across the country from the green-hilled northern region of Asturias to the Balearic island of Menorca.

    Tips for long life ranged from a spoonful of honey, a day to regular intake of gazpacho, a traditional cold Spanish soup made from tomatoes and cucumbers.

    Average life expectancy at birth in Spain is 83.2, according to the latest OECD statistics made available in 2013, just a shade below the 83.4 years on average Japanese newborn can expect to live.

    Most of the men and women Comas interviewed showed a zest for life and an interest in pastimes from amateur dramatics to playing the piano.

    Many also continued to carry out daily duties from farm work to caring for a disabled child. Pedro Rodriguez, 106, plays the piano every day in the living room of his flat in Asturias, northern Spain, where he lives with his wife who is nearly 20 years younger than him.

    “The nuns taught me how to play the piano as a child,” he said after giving a rendition of a Spanish waltz.

    The majority of these elderly people were surrounded by family or had loved ones calling in on them daily showing how Spain continues to be a closely-knit society, where family ties are paramount.

    Francisco Nunez, 112, is the oldest person Comas interviewed. He lives with his octogenarian daughter in his house in Badajoz, south-western Spain.

    He says he doesn’t like the pensioners’ daycare center because it’s full of old people.

    “He hasn’t had to leave his home. I’m single and I live here with him,” says daughter Maria Antonia Nunez, 81, as she adjusts his beret. When questioned about their most vivid memories, many recall Spain’s 1936 to 1939 civil war which set neighbour against neighbour and resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths followed by the 36-year dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

    Pilar Fernandez, 101, suffered hunger and hardship during the war years alongside her nine brothers and sisters.

    To avoid history repeating itself, she limited herself to one child. “From pure fear, I didn’t have any more,” says the sprightly woman who lives with her daughter’s family in Asturias and tends livestock and a vegetable garden.

    Gumersindo Cubo, 101, from Avila, puts his longevity down to a childhood spent in a house in the woods with his eight brothers and sisters, where his father was a park ranger.

    “It’s from inhaling the pine resin from the woods where I lived as a child,” he says, telling of how his mother would put a jar of the resin under the bed of the sick.

  • 5 Extraordinary health benefits of cabbage

    5 Extraordinary health benefits of cabbage

    Cabbage is a leafy green biennial plant, grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. Fresh, dark-green-leafy cabbage is incredibly nutritious; but very low in fat and calories.

    Cabbage is also very useful in curing various health ailments. Below are some of the health benefits of cabbage.

    1. Rich in fiber

    Cabbage is very rich in fiber, the main health benefit of roughage. This helps the body retain water and it maintains the bulkiness of the food as it moves through the bowels. Thus, it is a good remedy for constipation and other digestion-related problems.

    1. Rich in vitamin C

    Fresh cabbage is an excellent source of natural antioxidant, vitamin C. Provides 36.6 mg or about 61% of RDA per 100 g. Regular consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.

    1. Rich in vitamins

    Cabbage is also rich in essential vitamins such as pantothenic acid (vitamin B-5), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6) and thiamin (vitamin B-1). These vitamins are essential in the sense that our body requires them from external sources to replenish.

    1. Good source of minerals

    It also contains an adequate amount of minerals like potassium, manganese, iron, and magnesium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme. Iron is required for the red blood cell formation.

    1. Good source of vitamin k

    Cabbage is a very good source of vitamin K, provides about 63% of RDA levels. Vitamin-K has the potential role in bone metabolism through promoting osteotropic activity. So enough vitamin K in the diet will give you healthy bones.

     

     

  • Unbelievable health benefits of cucumber

    Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae family). It is a creeping vine that bears cucumiform fruits that are used as vegetables. There are three main varieties of cucumber: slicing, pickling, and seedless.

    The cucumber is originally from South Asia but now grows on most continents. Different types of cucumber are traded on the global market. Much like tomato and squash, it is often perceived, prepared and eaten as a vegetable. Cucumber fruits are usually more than 90% water.

    Cucumbers contain unique polyphenols and other compounds that may help reduce your risk of chronic diseases and much more. Below are some reasons why you should make cucumber part of your daily diet.

    1. Decrease Your Risk of Cancer

    Cucumbers contain polyphenols called lignans (pinoresinol, lariciresinol, and secoisolariciresinol), which may help to lower your risk of breast, uterine, ovarian, and prostate cancers.

    1. Combat Inflammation

    Cucumbers help reduce the inflammatory response in your body, and animal studies suggest that cucumber extract helps reduce unwanted inflammation.

    Cucumbers contain numerous antioxidants, including the well-known vitamin C and beta-carotene. They also contain antioxidant flavonoids, such as quercetin, apigenin, luteolin, and kaempferol, which provide additional benefits.

    1. Keeps Your Brain Protected

    Cucumbers contain an anti-inflammatory flavonol called fisetin that appears to play an important role in brain health

    1. Gives you fresh Breath

    Placing a cucumber slice on the roof of your mouth may help to rid your mouth of odor-causing bacteria. According to the principles of Ayurveda, eating cucumbers may also help to release excess heat in your stomach, which is said to be a primary cause of bad breath.7

    1. Helps you manage Stress

    Cucumbers contain multiple B vitamins, including vitamin B1, vitamin B5, and vitamin B7 (biotin). B vitamins are known to help ease feelings of anxiety and buffer some of the damaging effects of stress.

     

  • Seek medical advice on stretch mark treatment – Expert

    Dr.Arikawe Adeolu, a medical practitioner at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja, has advised people to seek medical advice before choosing methods of treatment for stretch marks.

    Adeolu said the medical advice could prevent more skin damage.

    The expert said the condition varied from person to person, hence only a tailored management style of treatment could work.

    He said that although there were various forms of treatment options available, there were different types of stretch marks hence it was not proper to commence treatment without adequate assessment by a dermatologist.

    “It is a condition that gets treated when the tailored management style is used. It is not proper for one to just dish out advice on what kind of cream to use or method of treatment without confirming the kind of stretch mark.

    “There are two types of stretch marks and this is classified depending on how long the stretch mark has been present on the body of the individual. We have acute stretch marks and chronic stretch marks.

    “These stretch marks are both different in appearance and presentation. The acute stretch mark usually appears reddish in colour; the colour of the skin around the stretch mark is usually darker than the surrounding skin.

    “The skin around the stretch mark is often raised more than the normal skin around it and this kind of stretch mark itches.

    “For the chronic stretch mark, the stretch mark looks pale in the sense that it looks lighter than the surrounding skin and the top of the stretched skin is wrinkled.

    “In most situations, stretch marks begin as acute and then gradually develop to chronic stretch marks.

    “There are a lot of stretch mark creams out there in the market but how effective these creams are is yet to be ascertained medically this is because like every other cosmetic product very little medical research has been done,” Adeolu said.

    He said that treatments such as use of laser, light therapy, acid peel, collagen injection and cream to cure and prevent stretch marks were available but added that these treatments were yet to be clinically studied or tested in medicine.

    He said that even with the lack of clinical testing there were claims that some or all of these methods of treatment were effective, stating the need for the medical community to make efforts towards commencing trials to ascertain the claims.

    According to Adeolu, the creams being used today cannot be used generally because there is a need for one to choose a cream specific to the kind of stretch marks one has.

    “Not all creams respond to all stretch marks. For some people stretch marks causes a lot of disfiguration of the skin in obvious places.

    “For majority of cases, the cause of stretch mark is as a result of the stretching of the skin on a particular part of the body.

    “Where the skin stretches, there is a possibility of having stretch marks in those areas and that is why the commonest places stretch marks are found is around the abdomen, the breast, buttocks and thigh.

    “This is because these places tend to increase in size within a period of time. For females, once they attain puberty there are a lot of changes within the body.

    “For some also, there are medical conditions that are associated with stretch marks such as use of steroid drugs and pregnancy, among others,” Adeolu said.

     

  • 10 Unbelievable drugs that damage the kidney

    The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs found on the left and right sides of the body in vertebrates. They filter the blood in order to make urine, to release and retain water, and to remove waste.

    Unfortunately, a lot of these toxins are a by-product of drugs that we ingest.

    There are different drugs that cause kidney damage, ranging from severe, to even deadly conditions. According to Livelovefruit.com, below are 10 categories of drugs that cause damage to the kidney.

    1. Antibiotics

    Including: ahminoglycosides, cephalosporins, bacitracin, vancomycin, methicillin, ciprofloxacin, sulfonamides, and amphotericin B.

    1. Analgesics

    Including: acetaminophen and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, and other prescription and non-prescription painkillers.

    1. COX-2 Inhibitors

    Including: celecoxib (Celebrex), valdecoxib (Bextra) and rofecoxib (Vioxx).

    1. Heartburn Drugs

    Including: proton pump inhibitor drugs including omeprazole (Prilosec), lansoprazole (Prevacid), pantoprazole (Protonix), rabeprazol (Rabecid, Aciphex), and esomeprazole (Nexium, Esotrex).

    1. Antiviral Drugs

    Including: acyclovir (Zovirax) for herpes, and indinavir, ritonavir and tenofovir for HIV.

    1. High Blood Pressure Drugs

    Including: ramipril, lisinopril, captopril (Capoten), and angiotensin receptor blockers like candesartan and valsartan.

    1. Rheumatoid Arthritis Drugs

    Including: infliximab (Remicade), hydroxychloroquine, and chloroquine, which are used to treat malaria and systemic lupus erythematosus, as well as rheumatoid arthritis.

    1. Bipolar Disorder Drugs

    Including: Lithium.

    1. Anticonvulsants

    Including: phenytoin (Dilantin) and trimethadione (Tridione).

    1. Chemotherapy Drugs

    Including: interferons, cisplatin, pamidronate, carboplatin, tacrolimus, cyclosporine, mitomycin C, quinine, bevacizumab, carboplatin, cisplatin, and methotrexate.

     

  • Malaria in pregnancy leads to miscarriage-Gynaecologist warns

    Dr.Nathaniel Adawole, a gynaecologist, has warned that untreated malaria in pregnancy could lead to miscarriage and still birth.

    He said that malaria affects pregnancy five times more than other diseases like AIDS, leprosy put together.

    According to him, the effect of malaria on pregnancy is usually more among pregnant women who reside in endemic areas like African countries.

    “There can be a spontaneous abortion or miscarriage because of malaria; you can have pertained labour and delivery; you can also have low birth weight and even death of the baby.

    “That is still birth; those are the possible ways malaria can affect the baby.

    “When the parasite gets into the blood it will attack red blood cells, and it is the red blood cells that carry oxygen.

    “When the rate of destruction of the red blood cells is high the woman can have reduced red blood cells called anaemia or shortage of blood,’’ he explained.

    Adewole noted that untreated and or severe malaria could lead to 15 percent of anaemia in pregnancy and other consequences like the expectant mother becoming unconscious.

    “So there are so many complications that can occur ranging from anaemia to even death of the woman; it can also affect the nutrition of the baby.

    “Because malaria can affect the placenta; the organ that transfers food and oxygen to the baby.’’

    However, he noted that malaria in pregnancy could be prevented in so many ways especially through the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets.

    Adewole therefore, advised expectant mothers to always use insecticide treated mosquito nets regularly for their safety and that of their unborn babies.

    He further explained that insecticide-treated mosquito net repels and kills mosquitoes.

    Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease affecting humans and other animals caused by parasitic protozoans also known as plasmodium.

    This parasite is spread by female anopheles mosquito and it can be transferred from one infected person to another.

     

     

  • NAFDAC mops up imported fruit juices as Dec. 31 deadline approaches

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) says it has commenced mop up of the banned foreign fruit juices in Nigerian markets.

    Mr. Carolly Ngobiri of the Investigation and Enforcement Directorate, NAFDAC, Lagos office, made this known on Wednesday during the mop up at Gbagada area of Lagos.

    Ngobiri told newsmen during the exercise that such products still abound in major markets and supermarkets across the country.

    According to him, a circular issued on Dec. 19 from the directorate directed an urgent visit to all markets and supermarkets across the states to mop up these items.

    “We are here to carry out one of the NAFDAC’s mandates; to ensure that all foreign juices are removed from the Nigerian markets.

    “We have given them a deadline from now to Dec. 31 to stop their sales and remove them from the shelves.

    “To ensure that these are totally removed, we have started mopping up all the juices across the country.

    “By the end of Dec. 31, we do not want to see any imported juice in Nigeria.

    “At these places that we have gone to carry out our assignment, we have taken the items, documented them and invited the owners to come to our office for further interrogation.

    “NAFDAC is still working to safeguard and protect the health of all Nigerians,’’ he said.

    The NAFDAC official advised Nigerians to check all the date markings including the production and expiry dates, as well as NAFDAC registration number of each of the products, before purchase.

     

  • Gov. Mimiko urges successor to sustain zero polio eradication policy

    Gov. Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State on Wednesday called on the incoming administration in the state to sustain the zero polio eradication policy laid by his administration.

    Mimiko spoke at a meeting with the state task force members on polio eradication and routine immunization in Akure.

    The governor said that continuous task of safeguarding children through adequate and qualitative delivery of immunisation services was a responsibility that should be passed on to the incoming administration.

    “We must be relentless in our individual and collective efforts, as stakeholders, to ensure that Ondo State does not return to the dark moment of high under- 5 morbidity and mortality due to the dreaded polio virus.

    “You will bear us witness that throughout our engagement on this platform, our administration demonstrated its commitment to ensure optimal immunisation coverage among our under- 5 children population throughout the state.

    “We have weathered the storm of Polio, Measles, Tetanus and all other antigens that had hitherto mortgaged the lives of our children,” Mimiko said.

    He urged members of the state task force on polio eradication to extend the same degree of support to the incoming administration.

    Mimiko pledged his commitment to continue to fight against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases, even after leaving office on Feb. 24, 2017.

     

  • Senate seek out media support on malnutrition enlightenment

    Senate seek out media support on malnutrition enlightenment

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Dr Lanre Tejuoso, has solicited media support on the ongoing campaign against malnutrition in the country.

    According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Tejuoso made the appeal in an interview in Abuja on Tuesday on the sideline of a two-day workshop on effective media engagement in the fight against malnutrition. He said: “The media should help us achieve what is being achieved in the fight against polio.

    “When we had two cases of polio in North East, funds were immediately mobilised, because the media make so much noise about it.”

    The chairman noted that polio was currently receiving so much attention and money compared to malnutrition that is killing 1,500 children daily.

    “Polio is not killing anybody, but malnutrition that is killing our children daily is not receiving the desired attention polio is receiving.

    “We need the media to help us change the shape and size of malnutrition in the country through investigative reportage on how malnutrition is silently killing children across the country,” he said.

    He said that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has proposed to take care of 600,000 children out of the 2.5 million acute malnourished children in the country in 2017.

    He added that the UN body took care of 400,000 last year, stressing that the country needs N95 billion to take care of the remaining 1.9 million children to ensure their survival.

    “Currently, it cost an average of N50,000 to take care of one malnourished child in a year. Multiply N50,000 by 1.9 million to give you an idea of how much budget we need for nutrition,’’ Tejouso said.

    “We must do all we can to save this 1.9 million children in 2017. We are in the era of change and everything must change for the better.

    “A law was passed in 2014 that specifically said at least one per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund should be allocated to the Basic Health Fund.

    “It has been two years and it has not been implemented.

    “The change we are looking for in health must start by obeying this law as our contribution to encourage development partners and private sector to participate,’’ the chairman said.

    He expressed optimism that the 2017 budget would respect that law.

    Earlier, the Head of Nutrition, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Chris Isokpunwu, expressed optimism for significant improvement in allocation for nutrition in the 2017 budget, given the attention being accorded to nutrition by the Senate.

    “We have the expertise; when we get the money, we will use it judiciously to create the desired impact and turn the tide around,’’ he said.

    On his part, World Health Organisation’s Senior Health Specialist, Mr Okunola Olaolu, underscored the need for government to prepare upfront to effectively tackle malnutrition.

    “We don’t have to always do things at emergency. If we plan up front, we will solve the root cause of malnutrition through nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive interventions,’’ Olaolu said.

    Similarly, UNICEF’s Nutrition Specialist, Dr Bamidele Omotola, said that much needed to be done in the area of social mobilisation and enlightenment campaign on proper feeding.

    It was organised in partnership with Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.