chatwithketch

You always knew music was good for the soul. But did you know it was good for your heart too? Read!

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/music-and-heart-health-2018060713962

Q: Hi doc, I’m 37, and I have a high blood sugar. My doctor say I should place myself on a diet., but I don’t know how to do it . Please Doc can you help me? Because I have wound on my leg but not diabetic wound. It has been there on my leg as a result of poison before the high blood sugar issue and now the wound refuse to go. Please what should i do . Please help me

A: Diabetes mellitus is a disease in which there are high levels of sugar in the blood either due to a lack of insulin (Type 1) or a resistance to the effect of insulin. What is insulin and why is it so important? Every food we eat is ultimately converted to a form of sugar. Once this sugar gets into the blood, insulin is produced by the pancreas to help take the glucose into the cells where they are to be used. In Diabetes, the body does not make any or enough insulin to move the glucose into the cells or the cells become resistant to the effect of insulin such that there is excess glucose in the blood (hyperglycemia).

Peripheral neuropathy (PN) arises due to this excessive blood sugar that affects nerves that control involuntary body functions. PN can manifest in several ways like excessive sweating, reduced sensation in the hands and feet (such that these people can easily get injured without knowing and the reduced blood flow in the area, makes wound healing poor), constipation, bloating, reduced ability to identify the symptoms of full bladder (with resultant frequent urinary tract infections) and reduced ability to recognize even the symptoms of low blood sugar.

I know all of that sounds very scary…but good control of your blood glucose will help counteract the effects above. Your doctor may also prescribe medications with time. You need to work with your doctor to ensure that your blood glucose is kept normal.In your case, even if you already had a wound, if your blood glucose control is not good, wound healing would be poor and prolonged. Before you conclude that the wound was due to poison, let your doctor check it out. Remember that though there was a specific day when you were diagnosed as diabetic, it does not mean that the disease was not present in your body before, doing damage. That may very well be the ‘poison‘that caused the wound. How to tame your blood sugar? It’s a mix of two things: keep lean and keep active.
Keeping lean involves eating healthy, more veggies and fruits. Remember that because fruits are also high in natural sugars, they have to form part of your daily calorie amount. Be sure to check with your dietician who will give you a proper diet plan. Eat more complex carbs like beans, sweet potatoes, whole wheat cereals, oat meal etc.

How can we make healthy foods the easier choice? Surround yourself with the right foods. Fresh fruits, veggies, dried fruits (which can also be added t nuts), nuts, dairy like yoghurt etc Then make the right choices. It’s one thing to buy up all the healthy things that have been suggested, it’s another to eat them and not reach for the doughnut that your colleague just brought into the office. In our high powered, we-are-all-busy-racing-to-somewhere world, eating breakfast may sound like a luxury, few can afford, but guess what? Studies have shown that eating breakfast may reduce the risk of obesity and Diabetes. So, whether you’re skipping breakfast because you think you don’t have time or because you want to lose weight by kipping meals, it’s bad news. So, how can you ensure that you’re not only eating breakfast but eating the right foods?

For a healthy breakfast on the run, try oatmeal. Oatmeal is always a great idea. Rich in fiber which reduce cholesterol and help protect your heart and keeps you feeling fuller for longer. If you’re not a huge fan of oatmeal, you could sprinkle some cinnamon on it and be sure to take with skimmed milk. Another idea for oatmeal I learnt from a chef is overnight oats. Soak your oats with milk and unsweetened yoghurt overnight (just enough to cover the oats). Cover and leave in the fridge overnight. In the morning, bring out and sprinkle some cinnamon, add some apple or banana slices, a couple of nuts (optional)…and you’ve got a delicious bowl of healthy deliciousness in your hands! Some whole wheat/grain cereals (unsweetened) also not go amiss. Whole grain bread with peanut or almond butter (peanut butter is just ground up peanuts or groundnuts), an egg with a cup of fresh juice or some fruit slices also sounds good If you want to go for a smoothie, be sure to add some veggies (carrots, a handful of green leafy veggies etc) to ensure it is super healthy and not just another sugar rush 😀

You’ve got to keep your weight within normal limits. The BMI is a good place to start. BMI is a simple calculation: weight in kg/height x height. Now, if math is not your favourite subject, you can simply go online and google ‘online bmi calculator’. There are lost of them and these calculators will do the work for you 😀 If your BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9, then you’re fine. If your BMI is 25 to 29.9, then you are overweight. Any BMI from 30 and above is obesity.

You can substitute some unhealthy foods with healthier versions. Please click on this link for more on these:
https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/12/10/daily-health-tips-healthier-substitutes-for-foods-we-love/

https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/11/27/daily-health-tips-weight-loss-revisited/

Keeping active refers to ensuring you have at least 150 minutes of exercise/activity weekly. For tips on how to incorporate activity into your day, please click on these:

https://chatwithdrketch.com/2013/12/09/daily-health-tips-fun-ways-to-exercise/

https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/05/18/daily-health-tips-is-it-possible-to-actually-enjoy-exercise/

Have a super-fabulous weekend 😀

‘Try stress reduction to improve your quality of life and potentially relieve allergy symptoms.’ Want to know how? Read this!

https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/is-stress-making-your-allergy-symptoms-worse

Q: Good evening Doc. How’s family and the ministry? God will keep sustaining you, Amen. Please ma’am, help, I always feel like am running temperature. Sometimes, I will treat malaria and even shortly after, I will treat typhoid but before you say Jack, am back with the feeling again. I am AA O+. Secondly, I urinate frequently. As much as 4 times at night and 10 times during the day. Please reply, what could be wrong?

A: Amen to your prayer! Thanks for writing in.

First thing about this body temperature is to check it objectively. This, of course is done with a thermometer. Technically, any temperature above the normal 37.2C is considered fever but when the temperature hits about 39C, it is an emergency. Causes of fever typically include infections (viral or bacterial), some drugs, some vaccinations, heat exhaustion etc But like I said earlier, the first action to take is to confirm whether you actually have a fever.

Frequent urination may actually be due to the simple fact that you’re drinking way too much fluid. However, where this is not the case, it is likely to be due to a health problem.

Some causes of frequent urination include:

• Sexually Transmitted Infections
• Some medications
• Drinks that contain caffeine, alcohol etc
• Infections that occur along the urinary tract or changes to the bladder
• Infection or enlargement of the prostate
• Disease conditions like Diabetes Mellitus etc
• Some cancer treatment eg radiation treatment for the lower abdomen

If this is due to excessive fluid intake, limiting this will help. If this symptom is associated with others like difficulty with urination, pain during urination, passing out bloody urine, incomplete emptying of bladder when urinating etc, please see your doctor asap.

Just go and see your doctor. He will take a good history, examine you and order some investigations. The treatment of course will depend on the cause of the problem.

For related posts, please click on the following:

https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/10/02/daily-health-tips-urinary-tract-infections-in-men/

https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/07/09/daily-health-tips-why-do-i-have-pain-when-urinating/

https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/02/20/daily-health-tips-train-that-leaking-bladder/

https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/06/15/daily-health-tips-prostate-enlargement/

https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/06/16/daily-health-tips-more-on-the-prostate-gland/

Have a good night, people 😀

Have you ever felt anxious? I’m sure the answer to that was a resounding yes! That’s not bad – it’s a natural response which kinda gets us to the do the right thing consistently. Now, anxiety becomes a problem when you feel it too often for irrelevant. That’s like have ‘on’ button switched on every single minute. You will burn out! For tips on what to do, read the post below.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/anxiety-what-it-is-what-to-do-2018060113955

For a related post, click on the link here: https://chatwithdrketch.com/2016/08/29/daily-health-tipsmy-heart-beats-too-fast/

Q: Hi my cousin gave birth yesterday and baby glucose was below 2 and even today, it’s still fluctuating by below 2. What is it that could help increase thee glucose level?

A: Hi dear, thanks for writing in and congratulations to your cousin.

A baby’s blood sugar level goes down in the first couple of hours after birth. This is normal. As baby feeds, the blood sugar level goes up and by the time it goes down again, your baby is probably already signaling for a feed.
Most healthy babies are able to deal with this variation in blood glucose levels as they will take as much milk as they need to keep their blood sugar level normal. Some babies are however not able to maintain this delicate balance and so low blood sugar is common in:

• Babies born to diabetic mothers,
• Babies born, too big or too small
• Babies born prematurely

What could lead to this?

• Poor nutrition in the mother during pregnancy
• Blood incompatibility of baby and mother
• Birth defects
• Poor oxygen intake during birth
• Liver disease
• Excessive insulin produced in the baby of a diabetic mother
• Infection
• Cold stress (exposure to cold)

Why is this is cause for concern? It’s because the brain depends on glucose as a source of energy. If this is lacking, then baby starts to experience seizures and later on, brain damage. Other symptoms of low blood sugar include:

• Jitteriness
• Low body temperature
• Blue colouration of the body
• Poor feeding
• Baby could stop breathing

Diagnosis is made by taking a blood sample and treatment is dependent on baby’s age at birth, baby’s overall health and medical history, baby’s tolerance for medication etc. Treatment typically involves giving the baby glucose – either in the form of glucose and water by mouth or through an infusion. Or the paediatrician may recommend feeding the baby. Let your cousin be guided by the paediatrician who will advise on the best course of action based on factors already described above.

All the best!

Q: Hi doc., please tell me the process needed to burn fat. I’m really worried. Or are there drugs I can take?

A: This question has come in so many different variations, from both men and women. I’ll start from the question about any drug/miracle pill/magic medication that causes people to lose weight. And guess what, guys?! It’s bad news all the way 😀 There’s no such thing as a miracle pill for weight loss. It’s sheer hard, back breaking work! Any of that stuff you read about that help you lose it all in days or weeks, just makes you lose water weight and you actually pile it on even faster, afterwards. Some people skip meals or fast to lose weight. Again, if afterwards, you go on a binge eating everything that you would have eaten from morning to night in one meal, then it still doesn’t make any sense 😀 Beyond that, it is not sustainable. Much as we ‘demonize’ carbohydrates or starchy foods, we actually need them to fuel our activities. Same goes for fats and oils…some of which are actually heart-healthy. The focus is on eating a balanced diet, ensuring portion control and getting exercise daily. Honestly, guys, there’s no other way around it! 😀
So, the first thing to do is portion control. Reduce the size of plate you usually eat with and then place your portions this way: Half the plate should be filled with fruits and vegetables, a quarter of the plate should be filled with proteins and then the final quarter should be filled with carbs. The carbs should be complex carbohydrates like brown/local rice, beans, oats, whole wheat bread etc. These carbs make you feel full for much longer and thus prevent you from rushing for the next pack of cookies, cake or soft drinks 😀 The cookies give you an immediate rush of sugar making the body produce insulin that takes in all of that sugar into the cells. This leads to a situation where the blood is now depleted of sugar causing one to feel hungry all over again reaching for the next quick snack again. This is a vicious cycle that leads to more eating and pre-disposes to Diabetes Mellitus.
In terms of exercise, 150 minutes of activity is advocated weekly. Be sure to split the exercise into manageable bit; perhaps 30 minutes every work day or one hour on alternate days. What you should not do is trying to take in all the exercise over the weekend…that is being a weekend warrior 😀 This can put a strain on your heart that may be disastrous.
I’ve written a whole lot on this subject for people who just had a baby or just regular people who want to do it right. Please take a moment to click on these links and read up on them.

Daily Health Tip: my tummy after my baby

Daily Health Tips: Can I Inherit A Big Tummy From My Parents?

My food and I…BC and AC

Daily Health Tip: Weight loss (facts and fiction)

Daily Health Tip: The trio of Diet, Exercise and Stress

Stress causes us to also pile on weight around the tummy. So reduce your stress levels 😀 (and just in case you wondered…yes this is possible), reduce your portions and exercise. So, who’s up for this? Count me in.
And remember this dictum:
For breakfast, eat like a king (eg some oats or fruits or whole wheat bread with an egg. You may even choose to use just the egg whites for an omelet)
For lunch, eat like a prince (eg a handful of wheat meal/ground oat meal, some ‘not-oily’ vegetable soup and fish with a serving of fruits afterwards)
For dinner, eat like a pauper (eg Ofada rice with stew and vegetables + chicken)
You can also take some snacks in between the three meals. Focus on healthy options like nuts (groundnuts, walnuts, almonds and others you can easily lay your hands on), fruits etc.

The article from Harvard below may give you more choices. Read!

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/are-weight-loss-drugs-worth-trying

Have a great evening, people…