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The Federal Government has activated the Emergency Operation Centre used for the treatment of infectious diseases in Kwara State. The National Coordinator, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abuja, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, confirmed this in a statement on Tuesday. He said this was done to ensure adequate management of yellow fever patients and other suspected cases in the state. A case of yellow fever was confirmed in a young girl in Oke Owa community, Ifeolodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, after thorough laboratory diagnosis was carried out at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba and Senegal. According to Ihekweazu, the State Epidemiology Team has been working with experts at the NCDC, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, the National Arbovirus and Vectors Research Centre , the World Health Organisation and United Nations Children's Fund in risk analysis of the danger that an outbreak of the disease may pose. He said, "A multi-ag...

UNICEF worries over poor development of Nigerian children A global UNICEF report, launched in Abuja yesterday, shows that Nigeria is putting its children at risk of under-development, both physically and mentally, because critical national policies are not providing an adequate foundation for their growth. The UNICEF report, Early Moments Matter for Every Child, outlines three policies that can give parents the time and resources needed to support their young children’s healthy development. The recommended policies are: two years of free pre-primary education; six months of paid maternity leave; and four weeks of paid paternity leave. Nigeria currently has just three months of paid maternity leave, only one year of free pre-primary education and no paternity leave at all. According to  The Lancet, Nigeria ranks among the 10 countries with the largest number of children at risk of poor development. “What we call Early Childhood Development, which includes physical and cognitive...

What is fecal impaction? The medical terms used for specific diseases and conditions these days have people struggle to understand just exactly what it is they suffer from. It's simple however to get round this. You have a tongue in your head use it and ask who ever has given you your diagnosis to explain matters in a way you will understand the problem you have. Any approach to cure a disease with no understanding of that specific disease can cause serious complications to unfold. For example: fecal impaction simply means a big mass of dry hard stool lodged in the rectum. Matters can get complicated from not knowing what you are dealing with. Why complicate things by holding back from saying 'Doctor what exactly is it I have and what should I expect in the way of treatment'. Constipation in a nut shell means passing stools becomes a troublesome time for the patient, and for some people a feared time depending on how severe their constipation. They experience not pas...

Child Care during the Common Viral Infections Cold and flu are the two most common viral infections affecting children. Unfortunately there isn't any cure for common cold and influenza since most antibiotics doesn't have any effect on these viruses. Antibiotics are only indicated for secondary bacterial infections. As a parent the best you can do is make your baby feel comfortable by ensuring they get enough rest and drink plenty of fluids. How can this be achieved? Relieving A Stuffy Nose • For infants a rubber suction bulb can be used for sucking drainage from the nasal passages. Your child will breathe a lot more freely when the clogged mucus is sucked out from the nose. • Using 1-2 saline drops (saltwater) for each nostril greatly helps in alleviating congested nose. • Place a cool-mist vaporizer or humidifier in the room of your kid to keep their nasal secretion from drying up. The humidifier would provide the extra moisture which would make your baby more comfo...

World Pharmacists Day 2017 Today, I stand with my colleagues world over to celebrate World Pharmacists Day. The Pharmacist is your partner in Health Care delivery. As men of honour,... We join hands! 

The Joint Health Sec­tor Unions (JOHE­SU), has lamented the manhandling of its branch chairman, Com­rade Fidelis Ogobor, at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) in Edo State. The union fingered the chairman of the hospital’s Medical Advisory Com­mittee (CMAC), Dr. Wil­son Ovienria, in Ogobor’s ordeal, which occurred on Friday, September 22, 2017. In a reaction to the development, JOHESU President, Comrade Bio­belemoye Joy Josiah, told journalists in Abuja that Comrade Ogobor was leading a monitoring team to ensure compli­ance of workers with the strike ordered by the na­tional leadership of the union when Ovienria slapped him. He said: “We express our displeasure with the ISTH CMAC who stooped so low to have slapped Comrade Ogo­bor and destroyed the mobile handset (iPhone) belonging to another of our member, Mr. Tune. “JOHESU, by this state­ment called on the Minis­ter of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, to as a matter of urgency, call doctors across hospitals in Ni­geria to be...

Are You in Danger? Checkout All You Need To Know About Colorectal Cancer Today Colorectal Cancer: What is it? When doctors find this disease early, it’s highly curable. It happens when abnormal cells grow in the lining of the large intestine (also called the colon) or the rectum. It can strike both men and women, and it has the second highest rate of cancer deaths in the U.S. What are polyps? They’re growths on the inside of your intestines. Most of them are harmless, but some can turn into colorectal cancer if not removed early. The two most common types of intestinal polyps are adenomas and hyperplastic polyps. They form when there are problems with the way cells grow and repair in the lining of the colon. Risk factors you can’t control Some things you just can’t help, such as: your age — most people with it are older than 50; polyps or inflammatory bowel disease, family history of colorectal cancer or precancerous colon polyps. Risk factors you can control Try to ...

An adult human being has 206 bones in the body. Mainly, bones consist of collagen fibers and an inorganic mineral in the form of small crystals. Living bone in the body contains between 10% and 20% of water. Of its dry mass, approximately 60-70% is bone mineral. The rest is collagen, which is the main fibrous protein in the body. The inorganic mineral calcium phosphate is found in the chemical arrangement termed calcium hydroxylapatite. This is the bone mineral that gives bones their rigidity. Basically, the bone tissue is of two types - cortical and cancellous, which gives bone rigidity and a coral-like three-dimensional internal structure. Other types of tissue found in bones include marrow, endosteum, periosteum, nerves, blood vessels and cartilage. Bone is an active tissue composed of different types of bone cells. Osteoblasts are involved in the creation and mineralization of bone; osteocytes and osteoclasts are involved in the re-absorption of bone tissue. People lose bo...

Causes of premature birth Dr Chris Abumchi, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, says violence among couples can predispose pregnant women to preterm ( premature ) births. Abumchi said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja. He said that other social vices such as smoking, alcohol consumption and drug abuse could also lead to preterm birth. He said that Nigeria ranked the highest with the burden of premature babies in the world after India and China. According to him, preterm birth was a global challenge and one in every 10 babies is born premature. He said that with 800,000 babies born prematurely every year, Nigeria had the highest burden in the world after India and China. He explained that premature babies were born alive before 37 weeks of pregnancy, and may experience more health challenges with need to stay longer in hospital than babies born later. “The earlier in pregnancy a baby is born, the more likely he is...

Weight Loss: The secret to losing weight might be in your poop You work out regularly. You eat well. But you can't seem to lose any stubborn pounds. What’s going on?Well, research published in the International Journal of Obesity suggests that it’s not as simple as getting your daily serving of fiber in the form of fruits and vegetables. In fact, researchers suggest, if you’re trying to lose weight, you should get your poop analyzed, because the bacteria in your gut might be holding you back. “Certain bacterial species play a decisive role in weight regulation and weight loss,” said lead author Arne Astrup of Denmark's University of Copenhagen in a press release. “Now we can explain why a high fiber diet does not always lead to weight loss. Human intestinal bacteria is an important part of the answer and will from now on play a role in the treatment of the overweight.” In other words, you might be doing everything right, but your gut bacteria might not give a damn. T...

After reviewing remission criteria, blood sugar guidelines, and recent clinical trials, the authors of the paper found that maintaining a weight loss of 33 pounds can actually reverse diabetes for specific patients. Past research has led to promising findings. For instance, one Newcastle University study found that limiting diabetic patients to 700 calories a day for two months led to an average 31-pound weight loss. As a result, nearly half of the people studied experienced a significant drop in their blood sugar levels, taking many patients to pre-diabetic levels instead. When the researchers followed up with those people after 6 months of maintaining their weight loss, they were still diabetes-free. If you’re diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, your doctor will generally prescribe medication and offer general advice about improving your diet and exercise—but the key to this study, and others like it, is weight loss. (If you want to shed pounds right now, check out Metashred Ext...

Seven Awesome Benefits Of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) Organic, raw apple cider vinegar is one of the top natural health remedies for everyday uses. It has been in use for centuries and is highly recommended by health professionals for several reasons, including detoxification, helping your body more easily digest foods and for a quick burst of energy. Apple cider vinegar is of great use for beauty, health and also at home. This miracle worker can be used for anything from personal care, conditioning hair, whitening teeth and can even be used as a household cleaner. However, be warned of its pungent smell.  Because it is made of fermented apples, it is not meant to smell great. Benefits of Apple cider vinegar Apple cider vinegar works as a toner to remove the blemishes on a face. Make a 50/50 water and apple cider vinegar solution and then apply on your face with the help of cotton ball. Are you suffering from bad breath? Well, then you can use apple cider vinegar for th...

The Kebbi State Government on Friday said it had recorded 656 suspected cases of measles in 21 local government areas of the state. The Executive Secretary, State Primary Health Care and Development Agency, Mannir Jega, who described the figure as alarming, said it was largely due to refusal of residents to go for routine immunisation. The executive secretary said at a news briefing in Birnin Kebbi, that the state had recorded poor coverage due to low turnout for routine immunizations in previous campaigns in 2016. “We have 656 Measles cases in the 21 LGAs in the state, out of which 77 cases had been confirmed in 12 LGAs and the victims were treated and discharged,” he said. The Commissioner for Health, Usman Kambaza, revealed that 1,131 vaccination teams would be deployed to undertake immunisation to counter the upsurge of measles cases across the state. “To counter this, the state is planning measles campaign with the support of the National Primary Health Care and Devel...

By Meera Senthilingam, CNN UK scientists have edited human embryos for the first time A key gene has been identified that helps determine the healthy development of human embryos (CNN) - The DNA of human embryos has been altered and studied for the first time in the UK, offering new insight into the early stages of human development. Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute, a medical research center, have identified the role of a key gene that controls how embryos form during the first few days of development. Understanding the biology behind these early stages could help in the discovery of ways to improve the success of in-vitro fertilization, offer some explanation into why some women experience miscarriage and offer general knowledge on how humans develop. Studies in the United States have manipulated the genomes of embryos to help understand -- and fix -- gene mutations that lead to inherited diseases, such as heart conditions. But this is the first research to targ...

An Abuja based herbal doctor, Dr Bamidele Joshua, said the consumption of mango leaves helps in the treatment of kidney and gall stones among others. He told the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja that consumption of mango leaves also helps in the treatment of many health conditions. According to him, Mango leaves contain vitamins C, A and B as well as vital minerals such as Copper, Potassium and Magnesium. He explained that the leaves could be boiled to be taken as water or dried into powder form to be used in any food or drink. Joshua added that for medicinal purposes, the use of young and tender leaves was best for optimal benefits. The expert noted that the consumption of the leaves helps prevent and regulate diabetes, lowers blood pressure, fights restlessness and stops hiccups. "Mango leaves are very useful for managing diabetes. The tender leaves of the mango tree contain tannins called anthocyanidins that may help in treating early diabetes. ...

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it has scaled up activities to combat cholera outbreak in Borno. The WHO Country Representative, Mr Wondi Alimu, disclosed this on Friday when he visited the Muna Garage Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Maiduguri. Alimu said that the organisation had anticipated the outbreak in May 2017, and adopted measures to control it. He attributed the outbreak to congestion and poor sanitation in IDP camps, adding that effective measures are evolved to contain the outbreak. The WHO official said that medical personnel, drugs and sanitation kits were provided in the affected areas to enhance quick response to the outbreak. Alimu said that the organisation had intensified surveillance, monitoring and community sensitisation activities to contain spread of the disease. “The protection rate is about 60 to 65 per cent but what is critical is the intervention. We are also involved in sensitisation, sanitation and fumigation of critical ...

Scientists have engineered an antibody that attacks 99% of HIV strains and can prevent infection in primates. It is built to attack three critical parts of the virus - making it harder for HIV to resist its effects. The work is a collaboration between the US National Institutes of Health and the pharmaceutical company Sanofi. The International Aids Society said it was an "exciting breakthrough". Human trials will start in 2018 to see if it can prevent or treat infection. Our bodies struggle to fight HIV because of the virus' incredible ability to mutate and change its appearance. These varieties of HIV - or strains - in a single patient are comparable to those of influenza during a worldwide flu season. So the immune system finds itself in a fight against an insurmountable number of strains of HIV. Super-antibodies But after years of infection, a small number of patients develop powerful weapons called "broadly neutralising antibodies" that attack somet...

Two major hurricanes, Harvey and Irma, have hit the South just about a week of apart from each other, leaving cities in Florida, Texas, and the Caribbean virtually under water. And not only do survivors of the storms have to worry about the damage to their homes and belongings, but they have to worry about the risk of a potentially deadly bacterial infection as well. One first responder from Texas who was helping to rescue people around Houston from the floodwaters recently contracted necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating bacteria that quickly spreads and destroys your tissue, after a mosquito bite near his wrist became infected. Thanks to his training as a former firefighter and medic, J.R. Atkins noticed that the bite kept growing in size and realized there was definitely something wrong. "There was a small little tiny bite on Tuesday, a little tiny bite on me that by Tuesday night grew to about a nickel size," Atkins told KPRC-TV in Houston. "The next mornin...

Medical experts have described as worrisome the recent figure released by international agencies which put Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate at 58,000 in 2015. This makes Nigeria the country with the second highest maternal death rate in the world. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a joint report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) published the statistics. The report was, however, presented by Dr Olusola Odujinrin at the 2017 Annual Faculty Day Lecture by the Faculty of Public Health and Community Medicine, National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria. The conference with the theme, “Transition in Global Health Paradigms: What Hope for Nigerian Women and Children?’’, was held at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja. In an interview with NAN, the guest lecturer Odujinrin, a community health expert, said Nigeria had not done well in the provision and...

By Megan Brooks Use of antidepressants is associated with an increased risk for death in the general population, but not in patients with existing cardiovascular disease, results of a meta-analysis suggest. The results support the hypothesis that antidepressants are harmful in the general population but are less so in cardiovascular patients, perhaps owing to their blood thinning effects, investigators note. "The common wisdom is that antidepressants are safe and effective, and by treating people with depression with antidepressants, we can save lives. However, research over the last decade has shown that antidepressants are much less effective than we had thought. Our research is part of a body of research that suggests that antidepressants are much less safe than we had thought," lead researcher Paul W. Andrews, PhD, JD, of the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, told Medscape Medical News. The stud...

Obaseki Flags-off Immunisation Project, Rewards LGAs with 10m L-R: Edo State Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Philip Shaibu; Coordinator, World Health Organisation (WHO), Edo State, Mrs Faith Ireye; Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State; Commissioner for Wealth Creation, Cooperatives and Employment, Hon. Emmanuel Usoh; and the Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Hon. Jimoh Ijebai, at the Flag-off of the Routine Immunisation Intensification Programme at Egor LGA, Edo State on Wednesday, September 20, 2017. BENIN CITY- The Governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki, on Wednesday, flagged off the 2017 routine immunisation intensification project in Egor Local Government Area of the state. As an expression of his administration’s high premium on the immunisation project, Obaseki rewarded three local government areas with N10million, for their extensive coverage of people during the immunisation programme from January to September this year. He declared that the ca...

Patients travelling Abroad for Medical Treatment die in Transit. The Chief of Surgery, Lagoon Hospitals, Dr Jimi Coker, has said that a third of patients that travel abroad for medical services, especially in cases of emergency, die in transit. Coker, who spoke on the impact of medical tourism on the country during a panel discussion at the Healthcare Stakeholders Conference 2017 in Lagos, said it was high time Nigerians looked inward for their medical needs. According to him, access to medical services during emergency is the most important and Nigeria has facilities that could provide such services. Coker also called on government at all levels to urgently improve the welfare of doctors and their conditions of service so as to discourage them from taking juicy offers from foreign hospitals. Stakeholders at the conference also called for a holistic approach to tackling the challenges facing the nation's health care sector. They identified inadequate funding and gaps...

Sokoto State Government partners FG on deployment of teaching hospital medical specialists to state hospitals Sokoto State Government has signed an agreement with Federal Government to deploy medical consultants and resident doctors working at the Usmanu Danfodio University Teaching Hospital Sokoto (UDUTH) to state-owned health facilities. Malam Imam Imam, Special Adviser to Gov. Aminu Tambuwal on Media and Public Relations, made this known in a statement on Wednesday. Imam said that the planned deployment of the consultants and doctors was aimed at taking professional personnel services to rural areas across the state. He said that Gov. Tambuwal signed the agreement on behalf of the state while the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, signed on behalf of the Federal Government at a brief ceremony in Abuja. The adviser described the strategic partnership as the first of its kind in Nigeria. He expressed optimism that the partnership would boost healthcare delivery a...

See Why WHO Fears More Children May Die Prematurely Williams Osewezina The number of overweight children is increasing and the World Health Organisation fears this is a big challenge to government's SDGs Premature death is not what anyone prays for, but sometimes human beings contribute to this, especially when it has to do with non-communicable diseases (NCDs). How? You will ask. Meditate on this statement by the World Health Organisation and you will find reason to act fast. First, the organisation wants the government to step up efforts to control noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) to meet globally agreed targets, including preventing the premature deaths of millions of people from these conditions. WHO says limited national progress has been made in the fight against NCDs – primarily cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases, cancers and diabetes. This diseases claim the lives of 15 million people aged 30 to 70 years annually. One thing it found in its ...

INAUGURATION: Guests at the inauguration ceremony of Grover Medical's Lifestyle Clinic and Artemis Hospital, made its debut in Lagos GOOD news for Nigerians prone to common health issues and disorders related to lifestyle such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, stroke , cancer etc., as the 1st lifestyle clinic in the country – Grover Medical's Lifestyle Clinic, in collaboration with Artemis Hospitals Gurgaon, India – made its debut in Lagos recently. Speaking during the inauguration ceremony, the Medical Director, Dr Mrs Arvinder Grover, said the Clinic has been established as a special purposed vehicle to drive the campaign and necessity for preventive health through effective lifestyle modification and clinical management. She noted that lifestyle diseases occur as a result of the way people lead their lives on a daily basis. "The diseases develop as a result of work, environmental factors, food we eat, exercise habits and stress. "More work and ...

In most countries, health ministers are seen as bureaucrats more interested in paperwork than medical miracles. Not in Madagascar, where Mamy Lalatiana Andriamanarivo recently picked up a scalpel and separated conjoined Siamese twins in a medical first for the Indian Ocean island nation. “Surgery was performed at the Joseph Ravoahangy Andrianavalona hospital on September 13 to separate Siamese twins joined at the abdomen and lower thorax,” Jean Marie Rasamimanana, the deputy technical director at the hospital in the capital Antananarivo, told AFP on Tuesday. “The separation of the five-month-old twins, Mitia and Fitia, who weighed 13 kilograms (29 pounds) and were delivered by caesarian section, involved the separation of their liver, ribs and diaphragm,” he said, adding that the pair were doing well following their operation. The surgery was a medical first for Madagascar. A medical team from the country successfully separated Siamese twins in 2009, but because of a lack ...

A case of Yellow Fever has been confirmed in Oke Owa in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, says the Federal Ministry of Health. In a press statement released on Monday, the ministry said the case was confirmed in a young girl from the community after a laboratory diagnosis at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital at the Institut Pasteur, Dakar, Senegal on the September 12. Following the confirmation of the case, the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, said the State Epidemiology Team has begun investigation into the affected area and neighbouring communities. “A joint team from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, National Primary Health Care Development Agency and the World Health Organisation Country Office has been deployed to support the State in carrying out a detailed investigation and risk analysis,” he said Mr. Adewole added that an Outbreak Control Team had also been constituted to ensure rapid and coordinated decision-making. He assured the ...