Which of the following products are presented as a long-acting depot
injection?
1 ❏ risperidone
2 ❏ prochlorperazine
3 ❏ quetiapine
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is (are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
The Federal Government has officially appointed the Board of Directors for the Biovaccines Nigeria Limited- a joint venture between the Federal Government and Nigeria’s foremost pharmaceutical company – May&Baker Nigeria Plc.
This partnership comprises a seven-member Board with three members from the government, while the other four members are May&Baker designates who will run the day to day management of the business.
In a press release signed by the Corporate Communications Manager, May&Baker, Innocent Adulugba, it was stated that the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, formally kicked off local vaccines production with the appointment of the Board members.
Prof. Isaac Adewole, in his inaugural speech noted that the venture was embarked upon by the federal government in partnership with May&Baker with the intent of ending heavy reliance on importation of some vaccines to immunize vulnerable Nigerians against preventable diseases and he was confident the board will deliver to make Nigerians proud.
“The members of the board were carefully selected, to forestall any room for failure. I commend the company for their patience and effort towards the realization of this project. The name of May and Baker would be written in gold when the project succeeds”, he stated.
Members of the Board are: Eminent Virologist and former Vice Chancellor of the Redeemers University, Professor Oyewole Tomori, chairman; The Executive Secretary/CEO National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib and Director of Food & Drugs, Fed. Min. of Health, Pharm. M. Lawal completes the government team.
Other members from May&Baker are: Managing Director/CEO, Nnamdi Okafor; Dr Edugie Abebe – a former permanent secretary and current director; Mr Ayodeji Aboderin, executive director of finance, May & Baker; and an expatriate, Managing Director of Biovaccines is also expected to join the board soon.
In the words of the Managing Director/SEO, May&Baker, Nnamdi Okafor, it took over ten years to arrive at the agreement, adding that, “The Company has successfully engaged stakeholder groups to actualize the task of providing Nigeria a sustainable programme of immunisation through local production of vaccines.” Continuing, Okafor said, “This inauguration signals a new beginning towards actualization of our dream as a Nation to develop capacity for local production of vaccines and biologicals.
“I thank President Muhammadu Buhari and the Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the Honourable Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole and indeed the quartet of past successive Ministers of Health; Professors Eyitayo Lambo, Adenike Grange, Babtunde Osotimehin and Onyebuchi Chukwu for the total commitment and selfless drive towards achieving this goal.
Chairman of the local vaccine production committee, Prof Oyewale Tomori assured Nigerians of the best said Nigeria will now be able to “produce those common vaccines from 2021 and beyond.”
He further explained the overall motive behind the project, saying the move became imperative after an outbreak of Meningitis C, which killed many children in 2017 due to lack of emergency health preparedness and reliance on importation of vaccines that were not readily available. Hitherto, thousands of lives have been lost to preventable diseases over the years as well.
Okafor assured all citizens of the swift and unmitigated access to the vaccines, as soon as they are available, while noting that it will also earn the country some respect as vaccines producing nation on the African continent alongside South Africa (fill finish only), Tunisia (producing limited BCG and rabies), Ethiopia (just starting), Egypt (some DTP and fill finish) and Senegal by Aventis Pasteur producing yellow fever vaccines.
IQVIA, formerly Quintiles IMS, a healthcare information technology providing company is set to introduce IQVIA HCP Space into the Nigerian Healthcare delivery system.
The official launching of the programme is billed to take place on 6 February, at the Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Lagos, by 11:00 am.
The IQVIA HCP Space is an exclusive professional networking platform, designed for health professionals in all the specialties and sub specialities of doctors, pharmacists, nurses, medical laboratory scientists, and all others.
It a good platform where they can connect with peers, follow key opinion leaders, discuss medical cases, establish public/private groups, view videos for increased knowledge, earn CPD points from content provided by CPD approved bodies, find job and career opportunities across multiple regions in Africa and Middle East.
Pseudoephedrine is:
1 ❏ a stereoisomer of ephedrine
2 ❏ a CNS-stimulant
3 ❏ contained in Day Nurse
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is (are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
World Health Organization (WHO) has donated 853 motorcycles to the Nigerian government to strengthen disease surveillance across the country.
The WHO Country Director, Dr. Wondimagegnehu Alemu made the donation to the Hon. Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole on Monday 22nd January, 2018. The motorcycles and other related items are to be distributed to the 36 States and FCT.
Speaking during the donation, the WHO Country Director said that surveillance was key in disease control and eradication.
Alemu said that Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers (DSNOs) play a major role in surveillance at the field level through visits to communities and health facilities. They also facilitate timely investigation and response to outbreak of diseases where they occur.
He said it was in recognition of their role in disease control in the rural communities that the WHO in partnership with donor partners have provided the motorcycles to enhance surveillance system in Nigeria.
“You will agree with me that this group of professionals deserve to be provided with the most appropriate logistic to enhance their mobility across the country including the remotest parts of Nigeria” , the WHO Country Director said.
Alemu called on the DSNOs to use the motorcycles for the purpose they were intended for and ensure good maintenance.
In his remark, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole who appreciated WHO Country Director for the gesture said that disease surveillance was quite critical to public health maintenance and the donation signified that 2018 would be a good year for all Nigerians.
He said “when we are able to detect and respond appropriately, we would be able to curtail the spread of diseases and maintain good health across the nation”.
He assured that the DSNOs would use the 853 motorcycles in an appropriate manner and in a way that would help to detect the outbreak of diseases.
“What is important is for us to get to know when and where there is disease, when there is no prompt information, diseases spread; but with good notification we would be able to nip it in the bud. We will be able to send officers there; we will be able to investigate and make appropriate diagnosis and be able to respond. So, to me, it is an important step, a new year present from our International partners through WHO”, the minister added.
In his remarks, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Alh. Muhammad Musa Bello represented by the FCT, Secretary, Health and Human Services, Bar. Amanda Pam assured the WHO Country Director and the Hon. Minister that the motorcycles allocated to the FCT would be distributed to the 8 Area councils for disease surveillance. This, he said would go a long way in checking diseases and bringing health care delivery to the door steps of every residence in FCT.
Also speaking, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr. Clement Uwaifo said that the donation was to complement Federal Government efforts in improving the healthcare delivery system in country.
Raw and fresh fruits and vegetables, sprouted grains, nuts and seeds are described as living foods because they have all the vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and phyto- nutrients.
Cooking, canning and processing destroy or change or denature them and are described as dead foods. At 116 to 120 degree F most enzymes, and other nutrients are destroyed.
Do you know what happens when you heat your food? The enzymes are lost, proteins denatured, oils and fats convert to trans fatty-acids which are carcinogenic, sugars are caramelised, vitamins and minerals are depleted, water is reduced and fibre is refined which makes it less beneficial to the body.
Cooking our foods can cause a loss of up to 97 percent of some water soluble vitamins like vitamin C and up to 40 percent of the fat soluble vitamins.
Consuming cooked or dead foods makes digestion more difficult and hence may result in constipation. Years of consuming dead foods makes the body prone to diseases, low vitality, loss of spiritual and mental clarity, and early death.
Please, note that consuming cooked foods is like filling the petrol tank of your car with contaminated or low grade fuel, this can cause your engine to knock.
People suffering from various ailments have recovered with change of diet to living foods. But should we wait till the body starts to malfunction before taking raw foods? God has designed the body to function on living foods. The human body is designed to be nourished with living foods and not dead or cooked foods.
In the Garden of Eden, God intended that all animals including humans should eat raw foods from plants. The life force from plants is transferred directly to the human body that consumes the plants.
Genesis chapter 1:29 says “ and God said, behold I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of the tree yielding seed to you it shall be for food.
Whole, sun ripe, raw, organic foods, are the keys to great health and vitality. They are the givers of life energy and healers of diseases. They are essential to the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health and vitality. They are proving to be the healthiest diet because we receive maximum nutrition when we eat our foods in their natural state.
If you eat living food, it will quicken you, but if you kill your food, the dead food will kill you also. Life comes from life, and fromdeath always comes death. Everything which kills your foods, kills your bodies also. Your bodies become what your foods are.
Benefits of eating living foods include:
1. Healing of many chronic diseases – diabetes, migraines, asthma, joint pain, fibromyalgia, allergies, colitis, depression, anxiety, cancer etc.
2. Losing weight the natural way.
3. Your skin glows, eyes brighter, and hair shiny.
4. Ageing process slows down, wrinkles disappear, blemishes vanish.
5. Your strength and energy increase.
Advantages of living foods include:
1. They are full of enzymes, minerals and other phyto-nutrients.
2. They have the best balance of water, nutrients, and fiber to meet your body’s requirements.
3. Have more flavour than cooked foods. So there is no need to add salt, sugar and spices.
4. Living foods require very little time to prepare.
5. They have more life force and more healing properties.
Therefore, eat fruits, nuts, vegetables, which are whole, fresh, and alive and packed with life.
You can notice remarkable difference in your health when you start to make your diet fifty percent of raw foods.
In diabetic neuropathy:
1 ❏ Ibuprofen may relieve mild to moderate pain
2 ❏ Gabapentin is an effective alternative to a tricyclic antidepressant
3 ❏ Metoclopramide is licensed to treat neuropathic pain
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is (are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
Professor Prisca Olabisi Adejumo is the Head of Nursing Department, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She recently became a professor of nursing, having worked in the area of nursing education and later focused on various conditions of people living with HIV and AIDS.
Her journey into the nursing profession began in the year 1997, when she bagged her Bachelor of Nursing Science degree from the Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan. She took a step further and obtained her master’s degree in Medical Surgical Nursing in 1998.
Self-motivated Adejumo went in for another master’s degree in Medical Sociology, in the same university. Thereafter, she proceeded for her PhD in the same university and became a Doctor of Medical Sociology, in 2004.
Adejumo is a Fellow of the West African College of Nursing, a certified Wound Care nurse and a visiting scholar to the University of Chicago, University of Iowa and University of Pennsylvania, USA, at various times. She teaches Medical Surgical Nursing to undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Ibadan. Her research interests include HIV/AIDS, Wound Care and Cancer Genetics, with current focus on cancer genetic counselling.
During the course of her work with PLWHA (people living with HIV/AIDS), she observed that they are susceptible to some chronic opportunistic conditions; this informed her decision to concentrate on two of these conditions. The first was chronic wounds, and later cancers generally.
Her love for these special areas spurred her to become a co-investigator and collaborator on a number of projects to establish the UCH Interdisciplinary Wound Care Team and the cancer risk clinic in UCH.
A scholar par excellence, Adejumo has got several publications in peer-reviewed journals and has attended several local, national and international conferences and scientific meetings with membership in learned societies. She has some awards to her credit also. These include:
Federal Government of Nigeria Scholarship Award (2001/2002); Small Grants Programme for Thesis Writing, CODESRIA (Council for Development and Social Research in Africa) Award, Dakar, Senegal. (2003/ 2004); Mac Arthur Grant: Visiting Scholar (2005), University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, USA; West African Health Organization Fellowship Award. Dakar, Senegal (2008); International Interdisciplinary Wound Care Course Scholarship, University of Stellebonsh, Capetown, South Africa sponsored by University of Toronto, Canada. (2010); Postdoctoral Fellowship in Nursing, INDEN and STTI Award, Iowa, USA (2011), and others.
She is happily married with children.
For the umpteenth time, the federal government may have again dashed the expectations of Nigerians hoping for a revamped health sector in 2018, considering the amount it allocated to the sector in the budget estimate recently presented to the National Assembly. Analysis of the 2018 budget presented to the nation’s lawmakers last November by President Muhammadu Buhari reveals that only a paltry N340.45 billion was allocated to the health sector out of a budget totaling N8.62 trillion.
According to the budget details, health came a distant 12th on the priority list of the government, as power, works and housing received the highest vote for capital projects, getting N555.88 billion. Further breakdown reveals that the N340.45 billion allocated to health represents just 3.9 per cent of the budget, which is not only a far cry from the 15 per cent recommended by the African Union and which smaller countries like Botswana, Malawi and Burkina Faso have been consistently complying with to their own advantage, but also a decline from that of 2017 which was 4.15 per cent.
Going by the recent statistics which puts Nigeria’s population at over 180 million, the federal government has, by allocating a measly N340.45 billion to health, indicated that it intends to spend less than N2000 on the health of each Nigerian in the whole of 2018. This is grossly inadequate and ridiculous, considering the present poor state of the nation’s health sector.
Details of the figures of the 2018 health budget also show that out of the total figure, about N269.34 billion has been earmarked for recurrent expenditure, consisting mainly of spending on wages, salaries and purchases of items and services, meaning that only N71.11 billion is earmarked for capital expenditure. Considering the long years of neglect of the nation’s health infrastructure and the huge deficit of needed equipment in all the federal teaching hospitals, including the State House Clinic, Abuja, which the wife of the president recently slated, this health budget is, to say the least, abysmal.
It is quite disheartening that the Nigerian government continues to relegate health-related issues, in a nation that is reputed for its appalling health infrastructure and life expectancy. Recently, the World Health Organisation ranked Nigeria 187 out of 191 countries with the worst healthcare delivery system, and the third highest in infant mortality in the world. One would expect that, with this alarming rating and particularly its implication for the wellbeing of the citizenry, the government would be declaring a national emergency to resuscitate the health sector, not further plunging it into the quagmire of decrepitude.
We cannot overemphasise that a key strategy in restoring the faith of citizens, observers and potential investors in the nation’s health sector is adequate funding. It is high time that the government began to revisit its priorities by understanding that good health is the bedrock of national progress, productivity and prosperity. Government must begin to see and treat health as a cardinal feature of the nation’s development indices.
Let it be noted that without citizens being alive and healthy, the huge investments government continues to make in security and infrastructure would only amount to an exercise in foolhardiness. Only recently, the government proposed allocation of an additional one billion dollars to fight Boko Haram insurgents; an amount that is about N360 billion. Yet, as much as it is important to quell insurgency in the country, it would be much more transformational for the nation if as little as just 10 per cent of that figure can be earmarked as an emergency fund to tackle the myriads of problems facing the health sector.
We urge the federal government to rethink and review its budgetary allocation to the health sector in 2018 by considering sending a supplementary budget to the National Assembly that will essentially focus on helping to revive the many decaying health infrastructures in the nation’s health system. We also urge the government to expeditiously begin the implementation of the National Health Act which was signed into law in December 2014, stipulating that one per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund be set aside to finance health initiatives in the country.
It is our view that if these steps are taken, they will go a long way in ensuring availability of adequate funds for the health sector, through which laudable initiatives like the revitalisation of 10,000 Primary Health Centres being pushed by the health minister will be made possible.
For pharmacists to mantain their relevance in the nation’s healthcare delivery system, lady pharmacists must make themselves change nurturers, as they have key roles to play as natural nurturers in the home and society, CEO of Advantage Health Africa, Mrs Abimbola Adebakin, has said.
Adebakin, who was the keynote speaker at the 2017 ALPs Forum, held at the Igbobi National Orthopaedic Pavilion, Lagos, emphasised the need for women pharmacists to be abreast of developments in their field and around them, noting that this will help them to be better positioned in the healthcare sector.
She said: “As natural nurturers, we carry ideas for the males and help to stabilise the ideas. The change we are talking about didn’t come because we desire it, but the environment we are in is changing, and those we serve are being served by other sectors that have moved very quickly, and we can’t afford to be isolated and insulated.”
The Advantage Health Africa boss further urged the ALPians to brainstorm and innovate ways of impacting the society more meaningfully. She also gave them some teasers to quicken their reasoning on the change mantra.
“For instance, by December 2027, how would you see this profession? And what part of it, would you have contributed individually and as an association?” She asked.
While analysing the different roles to be played by lady pharmacists, she gave the illustration of the construction process of a ship, saying that there are those who work on the outside of the ship, then there are those in the engine room, and there are also those under the water that nobody can see. She urged that whatever part each individual pharmacists is playing, must be played conscientiously.
She added that considering the multiple and crucial positions of ALPians as mothers, wives, career women, healthcare professionals, and members of other groups, it may seem difficult for them to be very active in nurturing the needed change. She however noted that it all boils down to collaboration, because one woman cannot function as six women.
“Women are naturally created to multi-task, and imagine if all of us are to multi-task together, and as the Holy Writ puts it, when one falls, the other can lift her up. This depicts a situation where women in pharmacy are collaborating to promote change. The more we collaborate, the more the change will happen faster, and sustained. We must consciously look out for one another; we must consciously promote one another, without selfish interest”, Adebakin stressed.
The Planning Committee chairperson of the forum and thanksgiving programme, Pharm. Bunmi Laja, spoke on the theme of the event, which was “Your Health, Your Wealth”, noting that though women are natural caregivers, the importance of their health cannot be overemphasised.
Highlighting the different facets of health crucial to women’s wellbeing, she said: “We have physical health, mental health, spiritual health, and financial health. And you know women in general; we don’t take care for ourselves. We prefer to care for our immediate and extended family members, and then we care for ourselves last. This is why we decided to focus on ourselves this year.”
While sharing the opinion of the keynote speaker on the need for the lady pharmacists to plan for the future, Laja quickly observed that it is when a woman is healthy that she can plan.
The Lagos ALPs chairperson, Pharm. Modupe Alli, thanked all members of the association for their support throughout 2017, urging them to prepare for a better 2018.
By Ngozika Okoye (Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency)
Online encyclopaedia describes bitters as an alcoholic preparation flavoured with botanical matter such that the end result is characterised by a bitter, sour or bittersweet flavour. It is a rich blend of medicinal herbs and roots that can cleanse the system and cure different ailments.
Reports over the last few decades constantly demonstrate the increasing use of herbal remedies in both developed and developing countries. Folake Olagunju in Business Watch reported that, currently, the Nigerian bitters market is estimated to generate over N32.2 billion annually. This is evidenced by the sudden proliferation of various brands of bitters from different companies. According to analysts, the growing market is as a result of the rising change in the taste of consumers.
In the past, the Nigerian market was dominated by only one brand of bitters which was imported into the country. Today, though this brand is still available, many locally made bitters have found their way and taken prominent positions in the Nigerian market, including community pharmacies. Interaction with some community pharmacists revealed that they only stock some selected herbal bitters that are listed by NAFDAC. So many other brands of bitters can be found in non-pharmacy outlets such as supermarkets, motor parks and among street traders and hawkers.
Ingredients in bitters
In a national survey by the News Agency of Nigerian (NAN), bitters were said to be prepared according to secret recipes by several manufacturers, using bitter herbs, leaves, fruits, seeds or roots and sometimes alcohol or sugar. Alabi M.A. reported that herbs used in bitters include: Gentian root (Gentiana spp.), Aloe (Aloe vera syn. A. arbadensis), Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), Dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale), Angelica root (Angelica archangelica), Senna leaves (Cassia senna), Zedoary root (Curcuma zedoaria), Myrhh (Commiphora molmol), Cinchona bark (Cinchona spp.), Turmeric (Curcuma longa syn. C. domestica), Shitetta (Swertia chirata syn. Ophelia chirata), and Saffron (Crocus sativa).
A study by Showande S.J. and Amokeodo O.S. of Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, revealed that bitters contain complex carbohydrates, alkaloids, vitamins and minerals that have antioxidant, antiviral and antispasmodic properties. The study noted that the ingredients work together to reduce inflammation, control pain, relax muscles and improve digestion and elimination. This could explain the numerous claims of therapeutic benefits of bitters. Most bitters contain water and alcohol. The alcohol serves as a solvent for extraction and a preservative.
Health benefits of bitters
In the nationwide survey by NAN mentioned above, respondents narrated the different benefits of bitters according to their experiences. According to the respondents, bitters were taken to maintain good health, to clean and flush the body system, stimulate appetite, reduce blood sugar, cure back pain, pile, vaginal itching/toilet infection, relieve stomach upset, treat malaria, to trim down and lose weight, relieve stress and tiredness and generally to boost the immune system.
A gynaecologist reported that intake of bitters has nutritional value and could enhance fertility. A nutritionist also affirmed that bitters could aid digestion, reduce indigestive discomfort and improve the daily function of the digestive system. While some men use bitters to increase libido, some women use it to terminate unwanted pregnancies at its early stage. However, a pharmacist in Jos warned that these claims for bitters have little or no scientific evidence to support them.
Caution with bitters
There are reports that bitters may cause dehydration and damage to intestinal linings. There is also the possibility of addiction to the alcohol content of the bitters. Those who consume them excessively are likely to die young. Other possible adverse events reported for bitters a survey include liver damage, kidney failure, anaemia, arteriosclerosis, irregular heart rhythms, increased menstrual flow, mild abdominal pain and diarrhoea.
There appears to be no regulation or control with regards to consumption of bitters in Nigeria. There are reports that while some consumers take specified doses, others may actually drink the entire contents of a 200ml bottle once. Advertisements and the low price make bitters attractive to consumers.
Opportunities abound in the cultivation, sourcing, production, sales, distribution, regulation, education, monitoring and, of course, research on bitters in Nigeria.
Talent is a natural endowment. It is inborn and not acquired later in life. However, it remains latent until it is activated.
Some people don’t discover their talents because they don’t even know that they have it. Sometimes, it stares at the owner who may not recognise it.
Some people have more talents than others, depending on the purpose for their creation. The purpose for your creation is indeed a function of your talent, the vehicle or medium for expressing it and the people to benefit from it. “A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men (Proverbs 18:16).
A good way to discover your talent is to find out the specific activities or hobbies that you enjoy – teaching, reading, writing, telling stories, singing, travelling, etc. You find yourself doing it whenever you have free time. Note them because they are pointers to your natural gift.
Can you possibly make money doing what you enjoy doing? Yes. God wants you to prosper with your gift. Your hobby can be profitable. But there are certain services you render not for the money but for the joy of service. You reward will still come to you indirectly.
Listen carefully to what people around say about you. People close to you know what you can do and can tell you the things you’re good at doing. This is why when people approach you to help in doing something for them, you should not turn it down without a cogent reason. You can discover your talent through serving others.
During the national conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) in Kano, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi prevailed on me to serve the PSN as the editor-in -chief of the Society’s journal. I accepted the nomination with reluctance and fear. However, for more than four decades after then, I have successfully edited journals. If I had rejected that call for service on that day, I might have missed God’s plan for my life.
Sometimes, God will speak to you through people close to you. But you must be careful to listen to only the persons who know what God wants. Proverbs 12:15 says, “… a wise man listens to advice.” Pray to God to send you trustworthy counsellors.
In June 2002, another colleague, Paul Enebeli, visited me with the intention of encouraging me to write a book. He had seen something in me which I did not know at that time. The book he had in mind was on fake drugs. I struggled to produce that book with eleven other contributors in 2004. However, the then Director General of NAFDAC persecuted me for producing the book and usurping the glory she thought belonged to her. The official launching was therefore cancelled. But my gift of writing books was stirred and I have written motivational or ‘life’ books every year since then. Today I have 15 books.
What do you find easy to do, which some people struggle with? Is it playing musical instruments, selling, caring for the sick people, providing hospitality, organising events etc? Such activities are pinpointing your talent.
In 1972, I was elected assistant secretary of the Lagos Branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria. That service sparked off the secretarial ability in me. Thereafter, in all organisations I belong, I have served as secretary. I have credibly served as secretary of PSN, YMCA, DMGS Old Boys Association, Okija-in-Home Club (11years), and West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists (13 years).
Is there a specific subject you like to study or discuss? Some like to read and talk about politics and government. To some, nothing excites them as sports. To others, it’s business or nothing. Where and how you invest your time is a clue to your destiny.
You also need to examine your lifestyle and character traits. Do you enjoy staying alone? Are you an introvert or extrovert? Do you enjoy cracking jokes and telling stories? Do you have many friends? Are you religious? These little things count in identifying your talent.
Are there activities you detest or dislike? You must avoid them as much as possible. Don’t waste your time and energy on them. They affect you emotionally also. Some others may be enjoying them but life is too short to engage in activities that are not profitable to you.
Finally, pray to the Giver of the gift to help you discover your own, the medium for expressing it and the people to benefit from it.
The Director General, National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) Professor Karniyus Gamaniel, has successfully completed his eight-year tenure at the institute, while listing the huge achievements of the agency, during his administration.
Top among his achievements, was the development of six traditional herbal products for the treatment of Ebola, malaria and other diseases.
Prof. Gamaniel disclosed this in his retirement speech, quoted in a press statement signed and circulated by the Special Assistant, Communication and Strategy to the Minister of Health, Kazeem Akintunde, on Sunday
Expatiating on the accomplishments of the agency under his leadership, he said the institute has developed and completed Phase I study of a fixed dose combination drug for the treatment of Ebola, while anti-malaria drug for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria which is safe for use by pregnant women, was also developed.
Among other drugs developed during his tenure, according to the statement include an immunostimulant which can be used to manage HIV in Nigeria, a drug for treatment of fungal skin infection, NIPRD Oil which could be used as a nasal decongestant, insect repellent, air freshener and an anti-inflammatory agent. “The institute has also developed ‘NIPRISAN’ for the management of sickle cell anaemia,” he added.
Prof. Gamaniel assured Nigerians of the core competence of the institute in the development of phytomedicines from indigenous plants and products, clinical trials, among others.
“We are a quality assured institute and we are currently concluding plans to carry out commercial production and distribution of these products,” he added.
The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, in his remarks, promised to source for N100 million for the institute to enable them set up a unit that would be devoted to traditional herbal products’ research.
Mr. Adewole said the establishment of the unit would enable the experts devote more attention to carrying out research on traditional herbal products.
The minister also added that another N10 million would be provided for the institute to carry out extensive research on how to turn the Neem tree into a money-spinning commodity for the benefit of the nation.
Mr. Adewole said that extensive research should be carried out on traditional herbal products, some of which have been found to have cure for different ailments.
He said that the Neem tree had been turned to a money spinner in India adding that there was no reason why Nigeria could not do same.
The chemical structure for triamcinolone includes:
1 ❏ cyclic acetonides at the 16 and 17 positions of glucocorticoids
2 ❏ fluorination that enhances glucocorticoid activity
3 ❏ 6 substitution to increase mineralocorticoid activity
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is (are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
The National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC says it will in March this year commence a nationwide campaign against falsified and substandard drugs in Nigeria.
Stating this in a meeting with staff in Lagos recently, the Director General of the Agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye said the campaign will start from six states of the federation, and would be aimed at sensitizing school children and people at the grassroots on the consequences of drug abuse and substandard products and medicines.
She said the Agency will no longer entertain third party purchase of equipment, even as she has moved to save not less than 200 million spent annually on travels and meetings by staff of the agency.
In what appears like a riot act in her nine priority lists, Adeyeye said all was set to align NAFDAC with international standards in medical product regulation to enhance quality testing of medicines and food. “After a tour of the Oshodi and Yaba including the Biologics laboratory in December, I realized that majority of the lab equipment pieces and instruments need repair or replacement.
“Almost all the equipment pieces and instruments including the partially installed ones were purchased from one vendor. No more third party purchase of lab equipment and supplies,” she added.
Adeyeye expressed displeasure that a 810KV generator that was bought in 2014 did not work for even a day while another 1000 KV generator purchased same year never worked for three months with 2X 509 KVA generators.
Pledging that her administration would replace these equipment, she said already, laboratory services’ oversight had been relocated to the DG’s office for proper monitoring.
“We have contacted the vendor that supplied them. We are investigating what went wrong.”
Continuing, Adeyeye said as part of the priority to build a functioning information communication technology, the agency is set to cut down traveling and meeting expenses of staff and channel the resources to repair infrastructure and purchase of equipment
Adeyeye explained that the agency would save at least 200 million annually from travelling and meeting expenses between Lagos and Abuja, if video conferencing is put in place.
“Video conferencing equipment should be installed by February 5, 2018. Already, three vendors bid have been evaluated and equipment will be ordered by January 18.
Regretting that effective communication was virtually non existence in NAFDAC, she directed that all staff of the agency must use NAFDAC.gov.ng for best practices with stakeholder’s especially overseas partners.
Adeyeye who further announced plans to launch a nationwide campaign against drug abuse and narcotics, substandard and falsified drugs among others.
Explaining that NAFDAC plans to fund Young Pharmacists Group, YPG, of the PSN,she explained that the aim behind the campaign was to sensitize school children and people at the grassroots on drug abuse and substandard medical products.
The Director General further disclosed that the campaign which is expected to commence in March this year, would come up in six different states of the federation.
The states are; Kwara, Anambra, Kano, Osun, Delta, and Lagos.
Adeyeye who highlighted some of the challenges confronting NAFDAC to include lack of funds, infrastructure and equipment, said parts of solutions to current challenges include giving attention to critical needs of the agency. “Many of the priority are budgetary in nature. I have redone our 2018 budget by moving monies to areas of urgent need,” she stated.
This Day
Nurses under the aegis of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) have absolutely decried the act of neglecting well trained healthcare professionals to waste away, while there is still clamour for insufficient experts.
The association has also condemned the current focus of the Federal government as being championed by the Federal Ministry of Health towards the privatisation and commercialization of the health industry. This attempt at placing and pricing *profit over people* is spelling doom and will make the susceptible majority of Nigerian citizenry to be more vulnerable to ill health while the privileged minority will be eating fat on the fortune of the unsuspecting masses of Nigeria. “In addition, presently our hospitals are not well equipped with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and the culture of non-inclusive policy formulation, the culture of corruption and destroyed goodwill and team spirit have made things worse in our health sector.
“In Nigeria today, Public Health Nurses distributed all over the states and local governments of Nigeria are being underutilized, not recognized and not being assigned duties relevant to the expert training they acquired; this is an issue of suffering of adversity amidst surplus. Public health nursing empowers the public health nurses to be the appropriate personnel with skill, resources and expert services in public healthcare services being used in other African countries, USA, Canada, UK, other part of Europe, Asia and other continents of the world with great successful outcome”, they stated.
Speaking through a press release signed by the NANNM President, comrade Abdrafiu Adeniji, the nurses commiserated with the families of the bereaved doctors and a nurse, while calling the Nigerian government to beef up the security and life insurance of healthcare practitioners, through the introduction of healthcare insurance for healthcare professionals, stating that this will ensure the professionals’ sense of assurance and confidence, so that in the events of accidental and untimely death from work place hazard, their families will not suffer.
The release further demanded for the immortalisation of the present victims and those that died during Ebola as well as earlier casualties of Lassa fever, while requesting for their salaries paid to their families up to the time they will be due for retirement, as compensation and consolation for their families.
“In case of any new incidence of the outbreak of Lassa fever, the Federal and State governments should be prepared to take up the cost of treatment. Burial of any victims should remain the responsibility of Federal Government to curb the danger of the spread.
“It is desired also, that the FMoH should present the names of these martyrs for posthumous national merit awards. They are heroes and heroines who paid the supreme sacrifice in the course of discharging their responsibilities.
“Healthcare financing demands the involvement of all stake holders and therefore the Federal Government should provide leadership for all that holds stake in health and inculcate the private sector in contributing to healthcare financing as a mark of corporate responsibility distinct from doing business with our fragile public health”, it stated.
The group however urged every Nigerian to take the expert health advice of the Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control Epidemiological sciences and knowledge of preventive nursing on the useful tips on prevention of Lassa fever. Lassa fever as a viral hemorrhagic disease is capable of being spread through direct and indirect contact with items contaminated by exudates from an infected source either with rodents’ urine or faeces, or the saliva of the rodents that touches food items. The Lassa viral agent is transmittable though zoonotic chain, between human and animals through urine, faeces, or other secretions of a person infected with the haemorrhagic fever.
For health workers safety and preventive measures, the professional body made it explicit that prevention of the diseases is better and far more efficient as well as cost effective than its treatment. “Since healthcare professionals are highly vulnerable, nurses in particular are more susceptible. Nurses and other healthcare professionals should religiously and sacredly adhere to universal disease prevention, standard precautions, regulations, techniques and devices. This is not a time to panic or taking any unscientific measures but rather be vigilant and cautious, utilizing the knowledge and expertise of personal preventive techniques.
“We are not unaware that there is no vaccine for Lassa fever, but the succour here is that the disease as much as dreaded can be prevented. Nurses and other healthcare professionals should take proper hand washing technique very serious and discountenance attitude of contempt to aseptic technique, environmental hygiene, personal hygiene and food hygiene. It is important to also avoid unhygienic interactions between man and other creatures living and nonliving in our environment.
“Nurses and all other healthcare professionals should insist on the adequacy and proper distribution of PPE in the discharge of their professional duties so as to prevent paying the supreme sacrifice while serving the nation and caring for the needs of our clients. It is hereby advised that all patients presenting with signs and symptoms of fever should be directed to do RDT – Rapid Diagnostic Test for malaria parasite to identify or rule out evidence of malaria in all clients at outpatient departments, in emergency care, ante natal clinics and intra partum especially those presenting with malaria and other high grade fever in pregnancy. It is our view that the occupational health and safety courses in nursing should be strengthened. And many more should be trained and deployed appropriately.
“In summary sacrificing self does not portray sense of responsibility and commitment to duty and a life loss in human resources for health is colossal as well as a set back to the mission of attainment of our nation health target and agenda”, the statement reads.
Experiments in lab animals have shown signs of success for a newly engineered flu virus that may lead one day to a more effective vaccine, researchers said.
Trials in humans are still a long way off, but the report in the US journal of Science earned praise from experts who described it as a promising first step toward better prevention of the flu.
The World Health Organization considers the flu a major public health concern because it infects up to five million people with severe illness each year and causes up to 650,000 deaths.
“Because the variations of seasonal influenza viruses can be unpredictable, current vaccines may not provide effective protection against them,” said senior author Ren Sun, a professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
“Previous pandemics and recent outbreaks of avian influenza highlight the need to develop vaccines that offer broader, more effective protection.
Scientists arrived at the new approach by studying the genome of the flu virus and finding eight locations where they could disable its interferon-evasion functions, which affect whether a host can fight the illness or not.
Regular flu viruses are known for their ability to evade the immune system, but this engineered virus showed it “is hypersensitive to one of the body’s primary immune defense mechanisms,” said the rep
The mutant virus can “escape type 1 interferon (IFN-1) function, the body’s first line of defense against viruses.”
The engineered influenza virus “induced strong immune responses” in mice and ferrets without causing them to become ill, said the report.
It also protected against infection by different strains of the influenza virus.
More animal studies are planned before any vaccine based on the approach can be tried in people.
Jonathan Ball, professor of Molecular Virology at the University of Nottingham, described the paper as a “neat bit of science.”
“There’s still lots of work to do in order to progress this exciting development down the vaccine development pipeline,” said Ball, who was not involved in the research.
“These experiments were performed in laboratory animals and the proof of the pudding will be how the mutant virus performs in humans, especially those who have been exposed to multiple strains of virus and might already have built up a degree of immunity.”
Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, described the work as a “collaborative tour de force between groups in North America and China,” that could lead the way to a universal flu vaccine.
“This advanced approach combines state of the art virology with incisive immunological techniques, potentially leading to greatly improved vaccines in the future,” he said.
However, there are “many hurdles to be overcome moving from pre-clinical through to clinical testing and ultimately to incorporation into standard vaccine schedules.”
Currently, influenza vaccines must be changed every year because the viruses are constantly evolving. Their effectiveness typically ranges from 30-60 percent.
AFP
Plaquenil:
1 ❏ is used in the management of active rheumatoid disease of
moderate inflammatory activity
2 ❏ requires regular monitoring of visual acuity
3 ❏ side-effects include pulmonary fibrosis
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is (are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
Information emerging from the seat of power in Ebonyi State stated that the government on Thursday has announced the closure of all private and public schools across the state for 7 days. Also, the National Obstetric Fistula Centre, NOFIC, Abakaliki has rescued its patients from the hospital, to curtail the spread of the outbreak at the nearby Virology Centre of the Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, FETHA.
Explaining reasons for the schools closure, the State Commissioner for Education, John Eke, said it was necessitated to prevent the spread of the disease across the state, which had hitherto claimed 3 lives with several others admitted in the hospitals.
The commissioner, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria, explained that the government had embarked on the measure to effectively control and contain the spread of the dreaded Lassa virus which had claimed some lives including two medical doctors.
He however doused the tension in the state, saying the Lassa outbreak in the state was not alarming, and not out of check, but noted that the closure of schools was done to check the disease spreading into schools.
“First of all, I want to inform you that the issue of the outbreak of the Lassa disease is not in alarming rate, and what we have done is to ensure that we effectively put the spread under control.
“Again, a woman yesterday (Wednesday, January 17), was diagnosed positive of the virus and this patient has her children in schools. We believe that one of the best ways to handle the situation is to shut down our schools until we are sure that our pupils and students are safe.
“The schools will remain shut for seven school days to enable us monitor the situation and we appeal to parents, guardians and school authorities to comply with the directive,” Mr. Eke said.
The development at the NOFIC was also undertaken to control the spread of the disease, as both the hospital and the Virology Centre were built by the state government, with just a wall in between them.
Threatened by the situation, the management of the National Obstetric Fistula Centre evacuated all the patients in the hospital to an undisclosed hospital.
Breastfeeding for six months or longer appears to significantly cut the risk of a woman developing type II diabetes, a 30-year U.S. study said.
The Kaiser Permanente research, published in the U.S. journal JAMA Internal Medicine, analysed data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, a national, multi-centre investigation that originally enrolled about 5,000 adults aged 18 to 30 in 1985 to 1986.
This study included 1,238 black and white women who did not have diabetes when they enrolled in CARDIA, or prior to their subsequent pregnancies.
Over the next 30 years, each woman had at least one live birth and was routinely screened for diabetes under the CARDIA protocol.
Participants also reported lifestyle behaviors such as diet and physical activity and the total amount of time they breastfed their children.
It showed that women who breastfed for six months or more across all births had a 47 per cent reduction in their risk of developing type II diabetes compared to those who did not breastfeed at all.
Women who breastfed for six months or less had a 25 per cent reduction in diabetes risk.
“We found a very strong association between breastfeeding duration and lower risk of developing diabetes, even after accounting for all possible confounding risk factors,” said lead author Erica Gunderson, senior research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research.
NAN
The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria has warned against indiscriminate or misuse of paracetamol, saying such practice damages the liver and kidney.
Jelili Kilani, PSN Chairman, FCT chapter, who disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday emphasised that paracetamol, an analgesic, was not supposed to be misused.
Mr. Kilani defined drug misuse as the use of drug for purposes for which it was not intended or using a drug in excessive quantities.
He further described drug abuse as an ill-wind which its effect might not manifest immediately but later in life.
The chairman, however, decried the usual practice of taking about three or more tablet of paracetamol at once to fast track healing processes.
“By engaging in such practice, you are damaging your internal organs like the liver and kidney, which if care is not taken, such damages cannot be remedied,” he said.
Mr. Kilani, therefore, urged the general public to desist from misuse of paracetamol in order to avert inflicting injury to their system.
“Misuse of drug is when somebody is tired and decides to take three or more tablet of Paracetamol simply because he wants a quicker or higher effect.
“As good as paracetamol is, if not properly taken, it damages the liver and kidney; the only drug that is harmless to the body is water.
“I advise the public to desist from self medication.
“If anyone is experiencing feverish condition or body pains after taking paracetamol once and the symptoms persist, they should consult medical doctors rather than taking the drug continuously,” he said. (NAN)
Isoflurane:
1 ❏ is presented as a liquid for injection
2 ❏ causes potentiation of atracurium
3 ❏ increases risk of arrhythmias when given with adrenaline
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is
(are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
It is common knowledge nowadays that too much salt in our meals can bring about high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases, but the fact that too much salt in our diet can have devastating effects on our brain is not generally known.
Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, NY, have found that cerebrovascular disease, stroke, and cognitive impairment, have all been linked to dietary salt.
In a recent study published on Nature Neuroscience Journal and reported on Medical News Today, the scientists experimented with a group of mice, by feeding them with the equivalent of a human diet high in salt for a period of 12 weeks.
It was observed after the first few weeks, that endothelial dysfunction, as well as a reduction in the blood flow to the brain, could be noticed in the mice. Additionally, behavioural tests revealed cognitive decline in the rodents. The study however shows how the negative effects of too much salt in our diet could be reversed.
The paper further explained that Endothelial cells line our blood vessels and are responsible for regulating the vascular tone — but a high dietary intake of salt has been associated with dysfunction of these cells.
Worthy of mention was the discovery of the increase in the gut’s so-called TH17 white blood cells. In turn, the high number of TH17 cells led to an increase in the levels of a proinflammatory molecule called plasma interleukin-17 (IL-17).
The researchers were also able to identify the molecular pathway through which higher levels of IL-17 in the blood led to the negative cognitive and cerebrovascular effects.
Interestingly, the negative effects of the high-salt diet were reversible, as the mice were returned to a normal diet after the 12 weeks, and the results were encouraging.
According to the lead author, Costantino Iadecola, “The harmful effects of [a high-salt diet] were abrogated by returning the mice to a normal diet, pointing to [the] reversibility of the vascular dysfunction and cognitive impairment”.
While the study suggested lifestyle changes to reverse the negative affected of high salt diet, the researchers also experimented with a drug that also proved effective in the reversal process of the effects of excessive salt. The amino acid L-arginine had the same beneficial effect on the mice as returning them to a normal diet.
Medication storage requirements in a pharmacy include:
1 ❏ temperature control for medicines that are temperature labile
2 ❏ separation of storage of medicines from non-pharmaceutical
products
3 ❏ locked cabinet for controlled drugs
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is (are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
The eyes is the light of the body, and without it, the whole body will be thrown into darkness. Hence, the importance of maintaining adequate care of the eyes arises.
Surveys have shown that millions of individuals across the globe experience eye problems each year. Some eye issues result in permanent vision loss or blindness, while others can be corrected with contact lenses or glasses.
The Nigerian Optometrists Association estimates that 42 out of every 1,000 Nigerians were visually impaired. And most worrisome aspect of the situation was that over 80 per cent of the disability was due to causes that could have been prevented, treated or cured.
Below are five eyes protecting tips for your use as compiled by Medical News Today, to protect your eyes from damage and disease and maintain healthy sight.
The best thing you can do to look after your sight is to go for regular eye tests.
Go for regular eye checks with a trained eye specialist who can detect early signs of problems.
Although your vision may appear to be healthy, there is no way to be 100 percent certain unless a trained professional observes your eyes.
Not only does an eye test determine whether or not you need glasses, but it can also spot eye conditions that can be treated effectively if detected early enough.
A type of eye exam known as a comprehensive dilated eye exam is recommended from the age of 60 upwards, or earlier if you are at an increased risk of certain eye diseases.
During a comprehensive dilated eye exam, an eye care specialist adds drops into each eye to widen, or dilate, the pupil. Once dilated, more light enters the eye, which enables the eye care professional to view the macula, retina, and optic nerve and identify any signs of damage and disease.
It is possible to eat your way to healthy vision. You often hear that eating carrots benefits the eyes, but there are plenty of other foods that are important for good eyesight, too.
Eating grapes has been tied to a lower risk of AMD.
Consuming a diet rich in fruits and vegetables has been shown to promote eye health. Dark leafy greens, in particular — including collard greens, kale, and spinach — contain lutein and zeaxanthin, which are antioxidants that help to prevent the formation of cataracts.
Evidence demonstrates that grapes may also support healthy eyes. In a laboratory model of retinal degeneration, scientists showed that a diet enriched with grapes protected the retina against the damaging effects of oxidative stress.
Other research indicated that grapes provide higher levels of antioxidant protection for eyes than lutein alone and may slow or help to prevent AMD.
Studies have found that there are eye health benefits from consuming fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, halibut, mackerel, sardines, and tuna.
Being overweight or obese puts you at a higher risk of developing conditions such as diabetes or other systemic disorders, which may eventually lead to vision loss.
Maintain a healthy weight to avoid obesity-related eye conditions. It is never too late to get your weight under control by eating a healthful diet and exercising regularly to prevent vision complications. Research conducted by the University of Melbourne in Australia and Leeds Beckett University in the United Kingdom discovered that considerable weight loss could potentially reverse eye damage caused by diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity.
Another study recently presented at the 121st Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, held in New Orleans, LA, reported that individuals who are physically active have a 73 percent lower risk of developing glaucoma than more sedentary individuals. This finding highlights the importance of leading an active lifestyle.
In addition to being a trendy fashion accessory, the most important role of sunglasses is to protect your eyes from the ultraviolet (UV) rays emitted by the sun.
Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from the sun’s UV-rays.
A report by the Vision Council in 2016 revealed that while three quarters of people in the U.S. were concerned about eye issues that may arise from UV rays, only 31 percent protect their eyes with sunglasses when they go outside.
When selecting sunglasses, never opt for style over safety. Look for shades that block 99–100 percent of UVA and UVB radiation and always buy from a reputable source.
If you work all day at a computer screen, you may forget to blink often and end up with fatigued eyes by the end of the day. The National Eye Institute suggest implementing a 20-20-20 rule.
Get outside as much as possible to prevent short-sightedness.
For every 20 minutes that you spend staring at a screen, look at something else that is around 20 feet in front of you for 20 seconds to reduce eye strain.
Research indicates that half of the world will be short-sighted by 2050 if we continue with the current trend of spending so much time on near-based electronic devices.
The study, which was published in the journal Ophthalmology, suggests that spending more time outdoors and less time doing activities that require constant up-close focusing could be a strategy that may help to reduce the number of people who experience vision loss.
If you need to wear protective eyewear or glasses as part of your job, get into the habit of wearing the appropriate gear at all times to keep your eyes in tip-top shape and prevent damage or eye strain.
Medical News Today
Halitosis, bad breath or mouth odour as it is known is the development of an unpleasant smell coming from the mouth. It can occur occasionally or it could be a chronic condition. Bad breath could be caused by foods a person eats, poor oral hygiene, diseases, or other factors.
Contrary to the widespread notion that minty gum and sweet clear mouth odour, an Australia-based dentist, James Buchanan, has said condemned the use of mints for bad breath, saying it aggravates the condition rather than remedies it.
His words: “Mouth bacteria turn sugar in mints to acid which wears down teeth and causes bad breath. It is best to use something like a sugar-free gum”. Instead, he recommends eating yoghurt and fruit for breakfast to clean your mouth and freshen your breath.
Aside replacing mints with fruits and other natural plants to expel bad breath, it is important for you to trace the root cause of your own bad breath, in order to apply the appropriate remedy to it.
Other causes of Halitosis, aside the ones mentioned earlier are: food and drink-heavily spiced or flavoured foods and alcoholic drinks; smoking; crash dieting-fasting, low carbs diet and medications can all cause mouth odour.
Natural Tips To Expel Bad Breath
The following home remedies have been tested and proven to get rid of bad breath.
Curing bad breath with a lemon rinse has been used for generations. The acidic content in lemons prevents growth of bacteria in your mouth. Its strong pleasant smell helps mask the bad odour.
You can simply add warm water to the lemon juice and use it to rinse your mouth early in the morning and before bed in the evening. This remedy will help to solve the problem of dry mouth which is one of the main reasons that contribute to bad breath.
Bitter kola is a natural compound (dimeric flavonoid) for treating bad breath as it exhibits very potent pharmacological activities in this area. Studies have shown that Bitter kola possess strong antibacterial property, and as such, fights bacteria that cause mouth odour.Just chew one or two pieces of bitter kola at the last thing before you go to bed. By the next morning, you will find out that your mouth is as fresh as if you have just brush your teeth.
Most people hurriedly brush their teeth and neglect proper cleaning of the tongue. It has
been discovered that much of the food let over in the tongue if not well cleaned, will aid bacterial to breed on the tongue, which degenerates into mouth odour.
Cinnamon is known to have antimicrobial action. It’s also proved effective against bacteria that cause oral infections in some studies. Cinnamon is also thought to have digestive and respiratory benefits, although more research is needed. Cinnamon chewing sticks also contain fiber that supports microbial diversity in the mouth.
Dry mouth is one of the reasons for bad breath, so to be free from this, you have to ensure that your mouth is moist throughout the day by drinking enough water, which will enhance the free flow of food particles and bacteria.
To keep your toothbrush free of stink-triggering bacteria, store it, head down, in a lidded plastic tumbler of hydrogen peroxide. Rinse the brush well before you use it.
Ibuprofen is:
1 ❏ a reversible inhibitor of cyclo-oxygenase
2 ❏ an organic acid
3 ❏ a suppressor of leukotriene formation
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is (are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
Have you ever asked the reason for your weight gain, in spite of several hours spent at the gym? The answer to your question may not be far from the likely culprit, known as water weight.
Water weight could simply be described as the retention of extra water, hanging around in the tissue between your body cells. Also known as edema, water weight is very common and could be caused by different medical conditions.
Dr Sylvia Tara, author of “The Secret Life of Fat”, spent five years on researching on weight gain during which she spoke with 50 world leaders in the field. The findings of the study showed factors responsible for weight gain to involve genetics, bacteria, viruses, gender, age, hormones, and, yes, water weight.
However, to get rid of water weight in order to be back to your normal shape and figure, experts have highlighted some natural methods of eliminating excess water from the body. For this article, we consider some effective natural ways of eliminating water weight:
Studies have found that drinking 2 litres of water can impact your estimated daily energy expenditure by 95 calories. Although it may sound contradicting, but the idea is when you replace water with sugary soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages, it sure will bring about weight loss.
Sodium causes the body to retain water. An easy first step for beating water weight is to replace sodium-rich foods with low-sodium equivalents. Aside table salt, other hidden sources of salt are: cheese, cold meats, bread, frozen meals, soup mixes, and savoury snacks.
Replacing simple processed carbohydrates which usually include excess salt, with fresh green vegetables, berries, or supplements can be a better way to deal with water weight. Start by cutting 100 grams of carbohydrates per day from your diet and subtract until you start seeing results.
Exercise lets the body sweat out extra water. This causes water weight to drop immediately after exercise.
Vitamin B-6 and magnesium oxide can be effective natural remedies for fluid retention.
These supplements work with the kidneys to help the body flush extra water and sodium from the system.
Studies show that these two supplements are very effective at relieving the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome or PMS, including water retention. They can also reduce abdominal bloating, swelling in the legs, and breast tenderness.
Water pills can treat mild fluid retention, as prescribed by a doctor. These pills work as diuretics, meaning they make a person urinate more often. Urination lets the body get rid of excess water and sodium.
To reduce the colossal loss of lives linked to air, water and chemical pollution, Mr Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment, and Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, have signed an agreement to step up joint actions to combat air pollution, climate change and antimicrobial resistance, as well as improve coordination on waste and chemicals management, water quality, and food and nutrition issues.
The collaboration also includes joint management of the Breathe Life advocacy campaign to reduce air pollution for multiple climate, environment and health benefits.
According to the press release from the World Health Organisation (WHO) this represents the most significant formal agreement on joint action across the spectrum of environment and health issues in over 15 years.
“Our health is directly related to the health of the environment we live in. Together, air, water and chemical hazards kill more than 12.6 million people a year. This must not continue,” said WHO’s Tedros.
“There is an urgent need for our two agencies to work more closely together to address the critical threats to environmental sustainability and climate – which are the foundations for life on this planet. This new agreement recognizes that sober reality,” said UN Environment’s Solheim.
He added: “Most of these deaths occur in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America where environmental pollution takes its biggest health toll”.
The new collaboration creates a more systematic framework for joint research, development of tools and guidance, capacity building, monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals, global and regional partnerships, and support to regional health and environment fora.
The two agencies will develop a joint work programme and hold an annual high-level meeting to evaluate progress and make recommendations for continued collaboration.
The WHO-UN Environment collaboration follows a Ministerial Declaration on Health, Environment and Climate Change calling for the creation of a global “Health, Environment and Climate Change” Coalition, at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP 22 in Marrakesh, Morocco in 2016.
Just last month, under the overarching topic “Towards a Pollution-Free Planet”, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), which convenes environment ministers worldwide, adopted a resolution on Environment and Health, called for expanded partnerships with relevant UN agencies and partners, and for an implementation plan to tackle pollution.
WHO
For those officials who prefer sitting in their rocking chairs all day long without physical activities, a new study has got negative news for them. The research conducted by scientists from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, has found that sitting for too long breeds harmful and invisible fat around our internal organs.
The study, published in the journal Obesity and reported on MNT, discovered that sedentary time correlates directly with how much fat we build around our organs, which could be a breeding ground for other ailments.
According to the lead of the research, Dr. Joe Henson, a research associate at the University of Leicester: “We know that spending long periods of time sedentary is unhealthy and a risk factor for chronic illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.”
“Likewise, the amount of fat deposited around our internal organs may also predispose us to these diseases,” Dr. Henson says, and he’s not the only one. In a previous study we reported on, visceral fat inside the abdominal cavity was shown to raise the risk of heart disease”.
To arrive at their findings, Dr. Henson and his team used MRI to scan 124 participants who were likely to develop type 2 diabetes. The MRI scanners examined the fat around the participants’ livers, as well as their “invisible,” inner fat — which is also known as visceral fat — and total abdominal fat.
The participants had accelerometers that were placed around their waists for the measurement level of their movement, the number they spent sitting down was also measured by the team over the course of 1 week.
Other data that were collected from the participants are: age, race and ethnicity, and the levels of physical activity in their calculations.
It was found that the more time people spent sitting down during the day, the more visceral and total abdominal fat they had, as well as having more fat around their liver.
Physical activity recommended reducing internal fat
Dr. Henson noted: “Our findings also show that reaching the recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity may offer some protection against the harmful effects of prolonged sedentary time.”
Study co-author Melanie Davies, a professor of diabetes medicine at the University of Leicester, also comments on the study, saying, “Lack of physical activity and being overweight are two risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes.”
She continued: “However, the effects of prolonged sedentary time and whether physical activity can play a mediating role by reducing fat deposits on internal organs remain unclear” .
“This research,” adds Prof. Davies, “starts to shed a light on any connections between the two by using MRI to measure the distribution of fat in an individual’s body and analyzing that in relation to their activity levels.”
The takeaway from the study is for those in the habit of sitting for so long to cultivate the act of strolling or step-counting during the day, in order to reduce internal fat, as well as live a healthy life.
The Zamfara State Chapter, of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has announced the passing away of her Chairman, Dr Tijjani Sa’idu, who died on Thursday, 11 January, 2017.
Mannir Bature, NMA secretary, disclosed the incident to the press in Gusau. He explained that his death was due to injuries sustained during a road accident while on his way from Sokoto to Gusau.
While the body of medical doctors in the country is in mourning mood over the deceased, who was a consultant ENT Surgeon at Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Gusau, his colleague, the Medical Director at the Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital in Gusau, Dr Bello Muhammad Kotorkoshi, has described the late Sa’idu as a hardworking and brilliant doctor.
The late Saidu hailed from Ringim in Jigawa State and his remains would be buried at his home town in accordance with the Islamic rites.
The association’s secretary offered prayers for him on behalf of the state’s NMA: “We pray that Almighty Allah grant him eternal rest and admit him into Aljanna Alfirdausi.”
Pleural biopsy:
1 ❏ is used to identify tuberculous pleur
2 ❏ pneumothorax may be a complicati
3 ❏ involves biopsy of ascites fluid
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is
(are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
In accordance to the provision of the Acts that established tertiary health institution across the country, the Federal Government of Nigeria, Wednesday, appointed four new heads to pilot the affairs of the four health institutions in the country.
The appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari, were announced via a press release from the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH). Below are the names of the new heads and designation:
Ajayi Adekunle was appointed as Chief Medical Director, Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti, Ekiti State.
Also appointed was Henry Ugboma as Chief Medical Director, University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.
He appointed T.O. Adebowale as Medical Director, Neuro-Psychiatric, Aro, Abeakuta, Ogun State and Achigbu Kinsley as Medical Director, Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo State.
While the appointments were described as long overdue from some quarters, it was stated that the tenure of the new officials will be for four years from December 31, 2017.
Reports also had it that prior to the appointment of the new officials, 20 out of 52 tertiary health institutions in Nigeria were been run by interim heads for between six months to two years, contrary to the established policy.
The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, according to the statement, congratulated the new appointees and charged them to justify the confidence reposed in them by the president.
Factors that predispose infants to a higher risk of sudden infant death
syndrome include:
1 ❏ premature birth
2 ❏ electrolyte imbalance
3 ❏ breast-feeding
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is
(are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
Following the proposed plan to transfer Yusuf Buhari, the son of Nigeria’s President, who sustained brain injuries through a motorbike accident in Abuja recently, to a Germany hospital for further medical treatment, Nigerians have expressed their views on the development.
Click the video to hear them out:
Dr Adaora Okoli was once all but dead, and now she is considered a ‘hero in the field’ by Bill Gates, who gave her the distinction last Thursday for not only being one of the few survivors of the Ebola virus, but for dedicating her life to fighting it.
When she recovered from Ebola in 2014 and was able at last to leave the isolation ward in Lagos, Nigeria, Dr Okoli felt reborn with a purpose.
Dr Okoli was infected while treating one of the first Nigerian cases of the deadly virus, which killed more than 11,000 people, and she has since moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to study epidemiology at Tulane University.
She made headlines when her story emerged in 2014 and Gates said of her on his blog: ‘Her courage and her optimism are inspiring.’
When she graduates in May, Dr Okoli, now 31, plans to continue her research in infectious diseases and eventually return to Nigeria to educate her fellow doctors on how to more effectively treat and understand diseases as public health issue.
The stress that Dr Okoli underwent the week of July 20 2014 would be enough to make anyone feel ill.
That’s just what she thought her sore throat and body aches were, at first: stress.
A diplomat from Liberia, where the Ebola outbreak had begun six months earlier, came into Dr Okoli’s hospital, First Consultants Medical Centre, with symptoms that made her colleagues think he might have malaria.
Dr Okoli was on call, and came to the diplomat’s room when he asked for a doctor.
He had had to make several trips to the bathroom with diarrhea, so she asked a nurse, who was eight weeks pregnant, to help him to the bathroom and temporarily remove the IV.
When the nurse tried to replace the IV, the patient ‘got very upset and yanked the IV from his hand. The nurse had blood splashing all over her and the sheets,’ Dr Okoli says.
She was immediately concerned, and became more so when the man’s lab results revealed liver abnormalities.
‘That’s one of the organs that Ebola attacks, and I told the nurses I suspected he might be a case of Ebola,’ and she instructed the nurse to be particularly careful to wash her hands and wear gloves, Dr Okoli says.
‘We didn’t have personal protective equipment that was adequate, we just had what we had, and had to do our best and use that.’
Proper protective gear covers the clothing, skin and any mucous membranes, such as the eyes. Dr Okoli and her team had only masks and rubber gloves.
It took three days for the World Health Organization to confirm the that the diplomat had ebola, and during that time he was agitated, threatening to leave, which would have put the entire town of Lagos at risk, but Dr Okoli and her colleagues kept him in place, and stayed to treat him.
Three days later, the diplomat was dead, and the hospital was shut down.
That’s when Dr Okoli started to feel sick with a sore throat, but assumed it was stress and treated herself with antibiotics.
At home, her family continued to assure her she couldn’t have Ebola, even as Dr Okoli became more convinced.
‘I isolated myself, and kept them at arms length,’ and called the newly-established local health line to send someone to test her for the disease.
Two days later, she got a strange call back.
‘He was stumbling, and he said “we’re sorry, there was a mix up, we have to take you to the hospital to take a sample,” Dr Okoli recalls.
Ever the professional, she remained calm even when the health official came to her house and loaded her into an ambulance.
She wasn’t taken to First Consultants, but five hours away to another hospital, and when the ambulance doors opened again, everything had changed.
‘I’m sorry, your test was positive, you have Ebola,’ a health official told her.
‘I called my mother, told her to lock my bedroom door from the outside, and that she shouldn’t worry, I don’t know how, but I’m going to survive,’ Dr Okoli says.
She was sealed into an isolation ward with five other female patients.
There is no known cure for Ebola, and in Nigeria, no access to ZMapp, the experimental treatment.
‘It’s just a matter of let’s see if your immune system can fight this. If it can, “yay,” if it can’t, we’re sorry, but at least you didn’t infect anyone else,’ says Dr Okoli.
At 28 years old, she found herself sitting in the isolation ward, in the bed next to the pregnant nurse who had had the diplomat’s blood spattered all over her.
‘But I said “I know this is not the end for me,” Dr Okoli says.
She remembered opening the Bible at random three years prior, when her eyes fell on a verse: Jeremiah 29:11.
‘”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’
The moment stuck with her, and Dr Okoli meant to see that promise kept. ‘I thought to God, “this is what you told me,” so when I was sitting in the isolation ward in August 2014, I had to remind God of what he said, that he is not a liar and he has plans for me.’
So she fought.
Dr Okoli used her clinical skills and treated herself as her own patient. She researched Ebola obsessively until she found a deadly symptom she could treat: dehydration.
‘If you can stock up on fluids, you might have a chance before multi-system shut down….because you’re fighting against a virus that is replicating every single second,’ she says.
Dr Okoli carefully monitored her own body – changes in her urine color and the consistency of her nearly constant diarrhea – treating herself with high doses of water.
Finally, she began to get her appetite back, and not just for anything, but for bananas.
‘The problem with persistent diarrhea is that you lose a lot of potassium and risk going to cardiac failure, which can lead to death,’ she explains.
By the nurse’s bed next to Dr Okoli’s, ‘I saw that her fiance had brought her all these bananas and she wasn’t eating them, but I had this urge to eat all the bananas.
‘I don’t know if it was divine or coincidence, but i happened to have bananas when I need them most,’ she says.
Dr Okoli got stronger and started helping tend to and counsel the other disheartened patients on the ward.
Fourteen days later, her blood was ebola-free.
Leaving the isolation ward bordered on a religious, ritualistic experience, Dr Okoli says.
She bathed in chlorine and changed into fresh, uncontaminated clothes her parents had brought her, carefully making sure they didn’t touch the ground.
As she approached the door, ‘I was given a pair of scissors and cut the red tape that was separating the isolation ward from the rest of the world.’
When she cut that tape, ‘I felt like I’d been reborn, and something had died in that ward when I was there.
‘The new me was someone that had decided not to be rebuked, to be a doctor, to help people.’
After watching one poorly-equipped doctor try to take care of her entire ward with two visits a day, and nearly dying herself, Dr Okoli left behind her dreams of endocrinology and dedicated herself to a new mission: treating infectious diseases as a public health issue.
‘Doctors need to know how to handle Ebola. It should arise not just out of someone who knows infectious disease but a public health concern.
‘Ebola thrives in impoverished areas, in countries suffering in the aftermath of war and bad governments…it’s not just about treating patients,’ she says.
Dr Okoli applied – and was accepted to – a master’s program at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Diseases in New Orleans.
She has since excelled in her studies there, given birth to a daughter, Valerie, now two, and will graduate in May.
Her plan is to spend a year conducting research on the pattern of epidemics, not just Ebola, before returning to Nigeria to help treat and educate others, even in the face of the threat of contracting another life-threatening disease.
‘My uncle says I’m crazy,’ Dr Okoli told Daily Mail Online, but she just shrugs that off.
‘I have fear, but… If I had died in that isolation ward, I wouldn’t even have the opportunity to talk about or consider infectious disease, so I make the most of whatever time I have, to affect path for others.
‘Everyone has a story…something that resonates with them, and whatever you have in your hand…use that to possibly make change that affects more people positively,’ Dr Okoli says.
Daily Mail Online
Extrasystoles:
1 ❏ may be associated with rheumatic heart disease
2 ❏ may be asymptomatic
3 ❏ commonly require digoxin
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is
(are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
It appears there is an end in sight to the perennial problem of Typhoid fever in Africa, with its attendant antibiotic resistance, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently prequalified the first conjugate vaccine for typhoid, Bharat Biotech’s Typbar-TCV®.
The WHO, through a press statement described the Typhoid conjugate vaccines (TCVs) as innovative products that have longer-lasting immunity than older vaccines, require fewer doses, and can be given to young children through routine childhood immunization programmes. The fact that the vaccine has been prequalified by WHO means that it meets acceptable standards of quality, safety and efficacy. This makes the vaccine eligible for procurement by UN agencies, such as UNICEF, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
For those who may not be aware of the burden of the disease, Typhoid is a serious and sometimes fatal disease spread through contaminated food and water. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, abdominal pain, and diarrhea or constipation. For millions of people living in low- and middle-income countries, typhoid is an ever present reality. Global estimates of the typhoid burden range between 11 and 20 million cases and between about 128 000 and 161 000 typhoid deaths annually. Poor communities and vulnerable groups, such as children, are often the most susceptible.
Urbanization and climate change have the potential to increase the global burden of typhoid. In addition, increasing resistance to antibiotic treatment is making it easier for typhoid to spread through overcrowded populations in cities and inadequate and/or flooded water and sanitation systems.
It will be recalled that in October 2017, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization, recommended TCV for routine use in children over 6 months of age in typhoid endemic countries. SAGE also called for the introduction of TCV to be prioritized for countries with the highest burden of typhoid disease or of antibiotic resistance to Salmonella Typhi, the bacterium that causes the disease. It further advised that the use of the vaccine will help to curb the frequent use of antibiotics for treatment of presumed typhoid fever, and thereby help to slow the alarming increase in antibiotic resistance in Salmonella Typhi.
The release further stated that shortly after SAGE’s recommendation, Gavi Board approved US$85 million in funding for TCVs starting in 2019. Prequalification is therefore a crucial next step needed to make TCVs available to low-income countries where they are needed most. And even in non-Gavi-supported countries, prequalification can help expedite licensure.
“WHO prequalification helps to ensure that vaccines used in immunization programmes are safe, effective, and appropriate for countries’ needs. WHO’s prequalification procedure consists of a transparent, scientifically sound assessment that includes reviewing the evidence, testing the consistency of each lot of manufactured vaccine, and visiting the manufacturing site”, it stressed.
As 2018 begins with windows of new opportunities and challenges, several medical experts and scientists have put forward their forecasts for the year, following global health trends. Crucial to the healthcare needs of Nigerians are the predictions of the Aetna International’s Global President of Population Health, Dr Sneh Khemka, as published in the International Medical Travel Journal, which takes a look at the shape of the global healthcare market in 2018.Of equal importance are some of the forecasts presented by Nexter.org.
Trends in global healthcare
1) Rapidly increasing global middle class.
The world’s middle class is growing (in particular across the Middle East and Asia), creating more strenuous healthcare demands. This has resulted in new expectations from healthcare systems, demanding of digital, more convenient and sophisticated access. Due to this, challenges of how to deliver will continue to arise.
2) Health spendings
Total global pharmaceutical spending is expected to increase by 6.9% a year from $1.61 trillion in 2018. Oncology is expected to remain the main contributor among therapeutic areas.
3) A change in global disease patterns.
Partly due to the rapidly expanding middle class, there has been an increase in lifestyle related, as opposed to infection-related diseases. This is putting significant strain on local healthcare systems, as people are living longer and needing more expensive, long-term treatment.
4) Antibiotic and opioid crises.
Though world news is now attuned to the global antibiotic crisis, the opioid crisis is also sweeping developed countries as addiction to prescription medication is seeing an increase. Both are critical global crises, and urgently need to be addressed.
5) Undiagnosed diabetes.
High obesity rates have led to undiagnosed cases of diabetes around the world. In order to overcome this crisis, healthcare systems will need to acknowledge this worrying epidemic, currently manifesting as pre-diabetes and as metabolic syndrome, both of which most people are unaware they have.
6) Mental healthcare in developing economies.
In developed economies, there is distinct awareness of mental health issues and systems in place to cope with them. Yet, in developing economies, there is still a need for healthcare providers to work with governments to overcome social taboos and understand how mental health effects conditions, as well as economical productivity.
7) Global disparity of healthcare leading to unwarranted variation.
There is large divergence in the quality of healthcare provision and access around the world. 70% of people in the world have too little access to healthcare, whilst 5% of people have too much access. For example, America spends 19% of its GDP on healthcare, indicating the possibility that there are far too many and unnecessary services provided to people; while developing nations are often less than 3% of GDP – so how to address the inequalities?
Technology
1) Technology is on the frontline of patient care.
It is essential to most healthcare systems around the world. However, although technology has advanced in healthcare, affordability has not. There are now increasingly expensive demands for enhanced solutions. This leads to ethical questions of how, and at what cost, we should extend life using technology – it is not easy to determine where technological intervention should end and where the human life cycle should kick in.
2) The data revolution is changing healthcare into a data-driven industry.
Healthcare has access to a wealth of data from wearable devices, to online analytics. Doctors can use this data to see what factors keep people healthy, rather than what makes them unhealthy. For example, aggregated data from online search engines are currently the best predictor of a viral epidemic. Data and technology also makes it easier for healthcare professionals to diagnose, treat and cure illnesses. This is evident in programmes such as IBM Watson, as it can search through 15 million journals to inform doctors about rare diseases and treatments.
AI technologies
The usage and development of popular digital health technology solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of medical things (IoMT), Big Data analytics, and robotics across select healthcare use cases will increase in 2018. In addition, Cloud based PaaS/SaaS platforms will be integral to any healthcare data monetization model.
“Blockchain technology will move from perceived hype to reality bandwagon demonstrating real value with initial commercial deployments across health insurance claim adjudication and revenue cycle management use cases. The debate will now move onto the topic of adoption, exploring [how] and [where] can blockchain technology be used in the healthcare space,” said Kamaljit Behera, Industry Analyst, Visionary Healthcare.
Health apps
Today you can easily find health app for everything, but the developing industry doesn’t stop. Global mobile health venture funding reached a record $1.3 billion last year, according to Mercom. The field will continue to boom in 2018 (the total global market could exceed $100 billion by 2022), especially as the FDA moves to make it easier for mobile health apps to reach the market.
Poised to reduce infants mortality associated with measles outbreak, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Primary Health Care Development Board, has revealed it plans to immunise children against measles across the territory.
The Acting Executive Secretary of the board, Matthew Ashikeni, disclosed recently that children between the ages of nine months and five years would be vaccinated when the exercise commences in February 8 to February 13.
Ashikeni, via a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report, noted that the immunisation would be conducted in all Primary Health Care centres, schools, on the streets and wherever children within the age bracket are found, to ensure no child is left out.
According to him, the vaccination is very important because of its adverse health implication on children.
“A lot of blindness you see among our children is the consequence of complication from measles and it is also life threatening.
“Measles cause brain infection, life threatening diarrhoea, vomiting and malnutrition and many affected children die if it is not properly managed,’’ he said.
He therefore urged parents to bring out their children and wards for the vaccination against measles.
Following the inability of the Kogi State Government, to pay the full salaries of medical doctors, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in the state has directed its members to resume an indefinite strike on Monday, until the governor is able to address their demands.
The NMA State Chairman, Dr Godwin Tijani, expressed the grievances of the striking doctors with the state government, stating that they can no longer tolerate none payment of full salaries by the government of Governor Bello Yahaya.
Tijani who spoke in Lokoja with pressmen queried the motive behind the deduction of 100 per cent taxes, when other allowances such as the doctors’ associations and union dues as well as members’ cooperative society contributions were not remitted in full, with some doctors salaries still pending.
While commending their members for their patience and understanding, during this unpleasant situation, he highlighted the decisions taken at the congress to resolve the issue and douse tension.
“Congress, therefore, resolved that all its members across the state should resume total and indefinite withdrawal of healthcare services from all hospitals in Kogi, with effects from 12:00 midnight on Sunday, Jan 7, 2018.
“We want government to give a definite time line for the full implementation of adjusted CONMESS (new salary structure) for doctors in the state civil service and the accrued arrears since January, 2014.
“Congress will reconvene once the state government responds appropriately to the aforementioned demands,” he said.
It would be recalled that the Kogi NMA had suspended an earlier strike over the demand on June 22, 2017, following the state government assurances that it would meet their demands.
Meggezones pastilles:
1 ❏ contain pseudoephedrine
2 ❏ provide a soothing effect through the promotion of saliva
production
3 ❏ should not be recommended to diabetic patients
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is
(are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
The University Graduates of Nursing Science Association (UGONSA) has expressed its sore displeasure with the management of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu and that of Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri, for their alleged deliberate exclusion of nurse interns from their internship programmes.
In a release jointly signed by the National President and National Secretary, Chief (Hon) S.E.O. Egwuenu and Nurse G.I. Nshi respectively, it was stated that the two health institutions exempted nurse interns from participating in the mandatory internship programme.
The press statement which was addressed to the minister of health, reads in part:
“We write to draw your kind attention to the gross injustice, discrimination and wanton marginalization of nurses by the management of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu and that of Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri.
“The two hospitals had on 25th October and 24th November, 2017 respectively, made adverts for placement of interns. These adverts however, selectively excluded nurse interns from the categories of internship positions advertised which listed interns of all other core healthcare professions for whom a one year internship training, like in nursing, forms a compulsory and integral part of their training.
“We were appalled by the selective discrimination so we wrote them on 6th December, 2017 vide our letter Ref No. UGONSA/017/CMD/UNTH/01 and UGONSA/017/CMD/FMCO/01, calling for rectification of the anomaly in case it had been an unfortunate error. We wonder what nurses have done wrong that would warrant the selective exclusion of their intending interns from running internship training which, like that of the other healthcare professions that were advertised, was also approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Council on Establishment (NCE) and the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) as well as the statutory regulatory body (for nursing in Nigeria .i.e. the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria).
“Since we wrote them over the ugly development, the managements of these two hospitals have surprisingly maintained a loud silence on the issue. This deafening silence has eroded all our benefits of doubt and rather reinforced our speculation that it may be a continuation of the oppressive sentiments against nurses that have become the characteristic stock-in-trade of the chief executive officers of some government owned hospitals.
“By denying nursing the opportunity to run internship programme for its fresh graduates in their facilities, the management of UNTH and FMC Owerri are toying with and jeopardizing the future of hundreds of fresh graduate nurses whose full registration and licensure by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria are tied to internship training. They are also robbing the country of the opportunity of producing qualified manpower needed to drive effective care delivery in our health system especially as nurses are the first and the last line of defence for patients in any healthcare delivery system in the world.
“Most especially, they are breaching the constitution of the land by discriminating against their fellow Nigerians on the basis of their chosen professional career, which is recognized as a noble career by the law of the land”.
For justice to take its rightful place, the association has called on the Federal Ministry of Health to prevail on the hospitals to make the following amendments :
“Make a supplementary advert placement for the post of nurse interns to give nurses a sense of belonging, give fresh graduate nurses opportunity to get internship training for full registration and licensure as was done for their counterparts in other core healthcare disciplines, and foster equity and fairness.
“Consider the nascence of internship training for the graduates of B.N.Sc degree as a ground for recruiting nurse interns in large and considerable numbers.
“Respect the extant laws, rules and regulations by giving the fresh graduate nurses similar internship opportunity that was given to their counterparts in other core healthcare disciplines to foster their full registration and licensure by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria and help the country with qualified manpower needed to drive effective care delivery in our health system”.
Sialolithiasis:
1 ❏ is the inflammation of a salivary gland
2 ❏ presents with facial pain and swelling
3 ❏ is associated with eating
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is
(are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
Drugs that could be used in nausea and vomiting caused by palliative cancer treatment include:
1 ❏ metoclopramide
2 ❏ haloperidol
3 ❏ prochlorperazine
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is
(are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
Diamorphine:
1 ❏ is a controlled drug
2 ❏ is more lipid soluble than morphine
3 ❏ may be administered intramuscularly
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is
(are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
Finasteride:
1 ❏ is an enzyme inhibitor
2 ❏ is an anti-androgen
3 ❏ could be used in male-pattern baldness
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is
(are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
Male pattern baldness:
1 ❏ is androgenetic alopecia
2 ❏ is caused by the release of prostaglandins
3 ❏ may be precipitated by chemical hair preparations
ONE or MORE of the responses above is (are) correct. Decide which of the responses is
(are) correct. Then choose:
A ❏ if 1, 2 and 3 are correct
B ❏ if 1 and 2 only are correct
C ❏ if 2 and 3 only are correct
D ❏ if 1 only is correct
E ❏ if 3 only is correct
Liver cleanses promise to rid the body of toxins and impurities, but they are controversial because there is little science to support their use.
What is a liver cleanse?
A liver cleanse may involve choosing or avoiding specific foods, or going on a juice fast.
The liver is the body’s natural detoxifier, as it cleanses the body of toxins and produces bile to support healthy digestion. A healthy liver can detoxify almost everything that a person encounters. The liver is on the right side of the body, just under the rib cage.
When the liver is diseased, the body cannot filter out toxic substances as efficiently. This can cause a wide range of symptoms, including:
itching
yellow jaundiced skin
swelling
blood vessel problems
gallstones
fatigue
nausea
diarrhea
A variety of natural health practitioners, supplement companies, and medical websites argue that the liver accumulates toxins during the filtering process.
They insist that over time, these toxins can cause a range of nonspecific symptoms and may even cause serious diseases or increase the risk of cancer. There is little evidence to support this.
Over time, however, exposure to chemicals can damage the liver. For example, drinking alcohol is a well-known way to ruin liver function over time.
In most cases, a liver detox involves one or more of the following:
taking supplements designed to flush toxins out of the liver
eating a liver-friendly diet
avoiding certain foods
going on a juice fast
cleansing the colon and gut through the use of enemas
While liver failure is a serious health problem, there is no evidence that dangerous toxins accumulate in otherwise healthy livers without specific exposure to large amounts of these chemicals.
Mainstream medical practitioners argue that the liver does not need detoxing and that doing so might even be dangerous.
Liver cleanse: Fact or fiction?
Doctor explaining liver disease to patient using anatomical model.
A liver cleanse will not cure a liver disease, and should not be used to replace normal treatment.
A healthy liver naturally cleanses itself. An unhealthy liver will not get better with a liver cleanse. A person with liver disease needs proper medical treatment and may require lifestyle or dietary changes.
Some evidence suggests that supplements, such as milk thistle, may improve liver health. However, there is no evidence that these supplements will detox the liver, or that they can cure any liver condition.
Liver cleanses also pose some health risks:
Liver cleansing diets may not offer balanced nutrition: A liver cleansing diet may not contain all nutrients that a person requires. Over time, this can lead to deficiencies or malnutrition, particularly in children, pregnant women, and people with diabetes and other medical conditions.
Enemas can be dangerous: Enemas can cause life-threatening damage to the intestines when not administered correctly.
Liver cleanses cannot replace medical treatment: When a person uses a liver cleanse in place of medical treatment, serious underlying medical issues can go untreated.
What Does a Coffee Enema Do?
Some people find their morning cup of coffee triggers a trip to the bathroom. The same principle is applied by those who use coffee enemas to empty their bowels.
Can cleansing the liver help you lose weight?
Some liver cleanses promise to aid weight loss by improving a person’s metabolism. Supporters believe that flushing the liver of toxins can improve metabolism, but there is no evidence to support this claim.
In fact, very low-calorie diets can slow the body’s metabolism. This is because the body adjusts to the low nutrient intake by absorbing nutrients more slowly.
Some diets that claim to improve liver health require people to consume few calories for several days. This can result in temporary weight loss.
Much of the weight loss, however, is water weight, which will return once a person begins to eat normally again.
Liver-friendly foods
Avoiding foods high in fat, such as meat, fish, or dairy, may help people with liver disease.
While it is not possible to cleanse the liver with any specific food or combination of foods, doctors may recommend dietary changes to people with liver disease.
For most people, avoiding very fatty foods and alcohol can reduce the risk of liver disease.
Other ways to improve liver health
Some simple strategies that can reduce the risk of liver disease and help the liver rid the body of toxins include:
Limiting alcohol intake: Excessive alcohol consumption is a risk factor for liver disease. People with an addiction to alcohol should consider treatment.
Avoiding unnecessary over-the-counter medications: Never exceed the recommended dose, particularly of drugs such as acetaminophen that can harm the liver. Do not mix alcohol and over-the-counter drugs.
Choosing reputable tattoo and piercing salons: Choose a salon that sterilizes their equipment. Unsafe body modifications can transmit hepatitis C.
Getting vaccinated: A person should get vaccinated for hepatitis A and B, and make sure they get appropriate vaccinations before traveling overseas.
Practicing safe sex: This can reduce the risk of transmitting conditions that affect the liver. People should also get tested regularly for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Avoiding potentially dangerous chemicals: When painting or using pesticides, wear a mask and ensure the area is well ventilated.
Drinking plenty of water.
Rinsing fruit and vegetables: This can help ensure they are free of pesticides.
Should you try a liver cleanse?
A healthy liver is crucial for maintaining a person’s overall health, but expensive cleanses or diets are just not necessary. In some cases, they may even be dangerous.
A healthy lifestyle, balanced diet, and regular consultations with a doctor are far more valuable to the health of the liver than any fad diet or cleanse.
Liver cleanses offer no proven benefits. To protect liver health, people can adopt a more comprehensive, long-term health strategy.
Medical News Today
Children who eat fish at least once a week get better sleep and have a higher IQ, according to a new study.
Researchers revealed that omega-3s, the fatty acids in fish, improve kid’s intelligence and found that those who ate more scored 4.8 points higher on an IQ test than children who said they rarely ate the seafood.
Those same children also reported getting a better night’s sleep, which previous studies have linked to higher intelligence.
The findings are the first of its kind that show sleep as the link between fish and heightened intelligence, leading researchers to suggest introducing kids to fish as young as 10 months old to improve overall cognition throughout their lives.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania conducted a study on more than 500 children in China aged nine to 11 to learn more about the effects of fish on intelligence and sleep.
The participants filled out a questionnaire regarding eating habits and how often they consumed fish ranging from never, seldom to always.
They took an IQ test where researchers then matched those results to the questionnaire.
The results published in the journal Nature showed a distinct association between fish and intelligence as those who reported eating fish more often scored 4.8 points higher than those who rarely at the seafood.
Children who said they sometimes eat fish scored 3.31 points higher than those who ‘seldom’ or ‘never’ consumed it.
The parents of the children in the study were also asked to submit a questionnaire regarding their child’s sleep quality.
The length of sleep, frequency of napping and tiredness were included in the survery.
Increased fish consumption was linked to fewer disturbances of sleep, supporting the notion that omega-3s promote better overall sleep quality.
Previous research has shown that the omega-3s found in fish have health benefits that can lower blood pressure, slow the development of plaque in arteries reducing the risk of heart attack and can improve sleep.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF OMEGA-3
Omega-3 fatty acids are often touted as being incredibly beneficial to a person’s health, with findings show that omega-3 may help to:
Lower blood pressure
Reduce triglycerides
Slow the development of plaque in the arteries
Reduce the chance of abnormal heart rhythm
Reduce the likelihood of heart attack and stroke
Lessen the chance of sudden cardiac death in people with heart disease
Other studies have also associated fish to improved cognitive function.
However, this is the first study that has linked the fatty acids to better quality that can lead to higher intelligence.
Study author Professor Adrian Raine said: ‘Lack of sleep is associated with antisocial behavior and poor cognition is associated with antisocial behavior. We have found that omega-3 supplements reduce antisocial behavior, so it’s not too surprising that fish is behind this.’
Researchers are encouraging parents to expose their children, as young as 10 months old, to fish as long as it doesn’t have bones in order for them to grow a liking to the flavor and texture.
‘Doing that could be a lot easier than nudging children about going to bed,’ Raine added. ‘If the fish improves sleep, great. If it also improves cognitive performance — like we’ve seen here — even better. It’s a double hit.’
Eating fish just once a week is considered high fish intake as defined in this study.
The researchers plan to study different types of fish consumption to determine which has the best health benefits to boost cognition and sleep quality.
Daily Mail Online
