Q: Good morning doctor. I have dark circles round my eyes. It first started to show when I moved to a very sunny environment and sometimes my eyes itch a lot and as a result of scratching it might swell. I don’t know whether to see a doctor. It makes me lose confidence.
A: The skin around the eye is very thin and as a result, any movement of fluid in or out of the area is very visible there. Typical examples are thedramatic sunken eyes when one is dehydrated (maybe from stooling) and the equally ‘gossip-worthy’ swollen eyes after a night of crying
Usually in the body, fluid would move from an area of low salt concentration to an area of high salt concentration (osmosis). After crying, your salty tears are an attraction for fluids, which move from areas of low salt concentration to accumulate there. On…
‘Decongestants commonly used by people with allergies, such as pseudoephedrine (eg Actifed) and phenylephrine (eg Sudafed PE), constrict small blood vessels in the nose. Although this eases nasal congestion and improves breathing, the effect isn’t limited to the nose’. Blood vessels all over the body are constricted causing the heart to work that much harder pumping blood all over the body. Excessive use of nasal decongestants can lead to rebound nasal congestion after the decongestant is stopped. And so, one ends up with the same situation they were trying to solve from the beginning plus an elevated blood pressure! So, if you must, do not use your nasal decongestants for more than three days.
June 14th every year is World Blood Donor Day. This day is set aside to thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood. It also raise awareness of the need for regular blood donations to ensure that all individuals and communities have access to affordable and timely supplies of safe and quality-assured blood and blood products.
Have you ever given blood? Do you plan to? Now, before you stroll down to the next clinic to donate, please read the post below…an earlier post I had made on requirements for donating blood. Enjoy….
To donate blood, you have to be at least 17 years or over, in good health with a healthy blood count and weigh more than 50kg, you can donate whole blood every 56 days and your blood will be screened for viruses and bacteria.
Now to specifics….
Before the blood donation, be sure to do the following:
Ensure that you are eating an iron-rich diet like green, leafy veggies, red meat, cereals fortified with iron etc.Avoid fatty foods
Be sure to avoid alcohol and take in lots of fluids (water and other juices)Bring along your donor card and form of ID
Avoid vigorous exercise
During the blood donation, be sure to
Wear loose and comfortable clothing which can be folded above the elbow.
Relax and let the bleeding proceed
You shouldn’t feel any pain after the initial prick. If you do, please call the attention of the medic close by.
After the blood donation,
Don’t be in a hurry
Relax and have a snack and a few drinks (non-alcoholic, please)
Avoid smoking in the first 2 hours
Avoid alcohol in the first 8 hours
Avoid strenuous exercise and do not carry heavy stuff with that arm for the rest of the day
Keep the pressure bandage on for about 30 minutes afterwards
Keep the plaster on though for about 6 hours after.If you feel lightheaded, please lie down, drink a lot of fluid and rest until you feel better
If the donation site starts to bleed, please apply pressure and elevate arm. If this continues, please see your doctor.
Q: Good evening Doctor, I am 30 weeks pregnant and unfortunately my house help left for school about 3 week ago. Now all the house chores such as sweeping, washing, mopping etc. are on me now. Please, will this have any negative effect on the baby? I am very worried. A: Hi dear. Thanks for writing in and congratulations on your pregnancy. I assume that it’s your first from your question 😀 So, pregnancy is not a death sentence or an illness, really. It is a natural condition and so, potentially, you can do a lot of things without any problem. Now there are caveats…if you have threatened abortion (miscarriage), your doctor will advise you to be on strict bed rest and not to lift a finger, literally 😀 There are a few other conditions that may limit what you can do, but your doctor will definitely be the one to issue those orders. In any case, whenever in doubt, please consult your doctor. Having said that, bending to sweep or mop is okay in pregnancy but it has to be done the proper way…bending at the knees and not twisting your body while at it 😀 I suggest that you use the long-handled brushes/mops for sweeping/mopping as opposed to the local/native brooms/scrubbing brushes that require bending…in probably uncomfortable ways.
Pregnant women get lots of advice: from friends, mothers, mothers-in-law, colleagues, husbands etc. Sometimes it’s confusing to know what’s true and what’s not. As a follow-on of my post a few days ago, I give you some more pregnancy myths and my take on them:
Advice The first breast milk, colostrum, should be discarded as it is dirty and causes rashes in children
Fiction (False) Colostrum is the first milk produced by the mother and is loaded with antibodies and nutrients needed by the baby. Babies should not be deprived of this milk.
Advice Women should not take the prenatal vitamins (antenatal drugs) given at the hospitals because it makes babies grow unnecessarily big.
Fiction: The iron tablets are important to prevent anaemia (blood shortage) in pregnant women and the folic acid ensures that baby’s spine develops well with no defects. In fact, it is advised that women who wish to get pregnant should start taking folic acid about 3 months before they conceive. Any other ones you know? Have a great evening 😀
Q: Hello Dr ketch, please, I am 11 weeks pregnant and for the past 1 week, it’s as if I’ve been feeling movements in the stomach. Is it normal or do I need to check a doctor? In my first pregnancy, I did not feel the baby till 20 weeks and above. Again, besides the ultrasound, how can I know if I’m having twins?
A: The first time you feel your baby’s movement is known as quickening and the time women feel it varies person to person. It ranges from 16 to 25 weeks but women who have had babies before may feel this much earlier. Women describe it as different things: a bubbly feeling; butterflies in their tummy; gas etc.
How to know if you’re having twins? Well, ultrasound is your best bet. But there are some other ‘signs’ that may be suggestive:
Q: Good evening ma’am. Please Doctor, can taking of COLD WATER prevent someone from conceiving? Thanks. God will continue to strengthen you in all your endeavors.
A: There are so many stories and taboos surrounding pregnancy that we need to address, really. Some pregnant women are practically banned from drinking cold water during pregnancy for this and other unclear reasons. There’s no medical basis for any of these stories. If you have a cold and you’re staying off cold water and filling up on warm fluids, I get it! 😀 However, if it’s for any of the ‘traditional reasons’ kindly ask for an explanation if you’re uncertain. Your doctor is always a great and useful resource.
So, in simple language, ‘no. drinking cold water cannot prevent conception.’ And it cannot cause a problem for your baby when you’re pregnant. Whenever I am pregnant, I not only drink cold water but…
Q: What happens to people that
are lactose intolerant?
A: Lactose is a
natural sugar found in milk. People with lactose intolerance can’t digest
lactose, which is the natural sugar found in milk. This is because they lack an
enzyme called lactase. Some people with lactose intolerance cannot digest any
milk or milk product at all, others are able to digest small amounts of milk
and milk products.
Lactose intolerance occurs more commonly in adults and in the
African, Asian and South American races. It appears to run in families. So, a
positive family history means one has a higher risk of developing this. Lactose
intolerance usually occurs during the teenage or adult years but some of these
people are able to take some milk or milk products. Severity of symptoms
depends on the degree of lactase deficiency and the amount of lactose in the
person’s diet. Some cases of lactose intolerance can develop after diseases of
the small intestine, as a result of ageing or even after stomach surgery. It
could be permanent or temporary.
Some children are born with lactose intolerance and thus cannot
tolerate any food that contains lactose. This includes milk and all milk
products. Some pre-mature babies have lactose intolerance just because their
bodies cannot make the enzyme needed to breakdown lactose yet. This is
temporary though. As soon as the body starts making lactase, then the problem
disappears.
The symptoms of lactose intolerance typically include bloating,
gas, diarrhea and tummy ache when you’ve had excessive amounts of milk. Anyone
with this condition can reduce the symptoms of lactose intolerance by trying
the following:
Try staying off dairy for a day and see if your symptoms
decrease. . If the symptoms reduce, then gradually add back some dairy products
and see if your symptoms start up again
Reducing the amount of dairy you take at any one time. Eg take a
small amount of milk and sip slowly.
Try out different dairy products and see what works for you.
There are varying amounts of lactose in different dairy foods. Quite a number
of people with lactose intolerance are able to tolerate yoghurt with live
cultures. You could try different things and see what works for you.
Taking lactase tablets prescribed by your doctor to help digest
your dairy products. These are usually taken before you take the lactose. This
may help but is not useful in all cases.
Try taking milk with other foods as this may slow down the
digestive process, changes the way the body absorbs it and ultimately produce
less symptoms.
The main challenge that people with lactose
intolerance have is figuring out other food sources that can replace dairy in
their diets with the right amount of calcium. Dark green leafy vegetables, fortified cereals and
almond milk are excellent sources of calcium. So stock up on those!
Finally, ensure that
your doctor is part of the solution.
Q: A doctor in diaspora told me
milk is for cow and not too good for consumption.
A: Very interesting comment. If the
idea is that the milk we are discussing comes from cows and therefore should be
taken by cows, I don’t necessarily disagree. Cows should definitely take their
milk but it raises very interesting questions about humans. Should we continue
breastfeeding at an adult age? 😀
Having said that, there have been
reports that taking milk causes inflammation and therefore the body secretes a
lot of mucous to counteract that. There’s still not sufficient evidence to
support this. Currently, we know that milk is very beneficial. However, some knowledge
will help you choose better from the different types of milk that exist
Skimmed
milk and full cream milk are types of cow milk. Full cream milk has a lot of
saturated fats. A diet rich in saturated fats is associated with heart disease.
Skimmed milk has the least amount of fats (about 0.1%). There is also
semi-skimmed milk which has about 2% fat content.
Here
are the recommendations based on age:
From birth till 6 months, a baby
should be getting breast milk only and he should get it on demand several times
a day at least 2-3 hourly
From 6 months to 1 year,
continue breast milk with other complementary feeds like fortified cereals
Before
1 year of age, your baby should not get cow milk (the regular milk we have). He
should only get formula (baby milk) and/or breast milk.
From 1 year to 2 years, the
child should get at least 2 cups of full cream milk. The fat is particularly
important to ensure proper brain development
Full
cream milk is advised for children from 1 year when they can start taking
regular milk till 2 years. The fat in the full cream milk is needed for proper
brain development.
After
the child turns 2 years, please switch to semi-skimmed milk or 2% milk if you
can get that, up to 5 years of age. Your child should get at least 2 1/2 – 3
cups of semi-skimmed milk or other dairy products daily.
From 5 years to 8 years, your
child should get at least 2 1/2 – 3 cups of skimmed milk or other dairy
products daily
From 9 years till adulthood, you
should get at least 3 – 4 cups of skimmed milk or dairy daily
Remember
that your milk intake should form part of your calorie intake per day. Be sure
to take that into account. So guys, get your milk mustache going. It’s certainly
one source of protein and calcium that you should not be ignoring. Be sure to
check that the milk is also fortified with Vitamin D which ensures that the
calcium is properly absorbed. If you are at risk of prostate cancer or have
other concerns, be sure to discuss your milk intake with your doctor.
There
are a couple of people that may want to avoid milk though:
Those with lactose intolerance (we’ll talk about this tomorrow)
Those without lactose intolerance and yet when they take diary, they feel tired, sluggish, bloated, congested and/or their tummy feels out of sorts
Those who just don’t want to take dairy for whatever reason. It’s a free world 🙂
If you’re not sure where you
belong but you think something is ‘off’ when you take diary, please have a chat
with your nutritionist or doctor.
Hello everyone! How’s your week going? It’s almost over , so make the last day count! :d
So, I’m out of town and went out with some friends yesterday. The conversation, inevitably went to alcohol and how to prevent hangovers. And interestingly, someone talked about an evening out with friends where they had started out drinking beer before wine and then finally gin because they had heard that if you go that way (from low to high) then you avoid a hangover. We were all curious and asked if it worked. The answer? ‘I don’t remember anything that happened!’ 😀 So, there you go! Leave the booze alone, people ;D
But just in case, you’re still in doubt, read what Harvard has to say!
