chatwithketch

Q: Hello Dr Ketch, I am a 33 year old guy from Lagos. I am experiencing rapid hair loss which is resulting in baldness. Please I’d like to know if there are natural remedies or vitamin supplements for men with no side effect on fertility. Cheers.

A: Baldness is excessive hair loss from the scalp. It usually starts from thinning hair before it involves wider areas of hair loss.

How does this happen? Usually, a hair follicle produces hair and each hair grows from a follicle for as long as three years before it is shed and a new one produced. Testosterone is produced normally by the hair follicle and these follicles now convert testosterone to Dihydrotestosterone (DHT). In baldness, the hair follicles are overly sensitive to the effects of DHT causing the hair to thin out and also last less than the usual 3 years.

Now it is usually…

Hallos! I hope you the holidays are going down a treat!

Now we turn to the lips…if you’ve got children like mine, you’re probably repeating the statement ‘go and put some petroleum jelly on your lips’ very often these days. Maybe they are listening, maybe they are not. 😀 Let’s give you some more tips to prevent or treat dry and chapped lips.

Moisten a kitchen paper or handkerchief and wet your lips (Or you could use an old soft-bristled toothbrush to gently brush out the dry skin. Don’t do this for more than 60 seconds to prevent irritation and bleeding). Then apply petroleum jelly to your lips and rub your lips together to make sure the jelly is well absorbed.  Then use lipstick (if you’re female), blot out excess by biting on dry wipes and then apply lip gloss…just enough to give a nice shine.

Overnight, apply moisturizer to…

Q: Good morning, Dr. My wife has a bent uterus. What is the cure? Please, help me

A: Normally, a uterus tilts forwards at the cervix towards the stomach. In some women, however, the uterus tilts backwards inside the pelvis towards the spine. This is called a retroverted or tilted uterus. Many women with this condition are born with it but some women may develop it after birth as a result of:

1. Pregnancy: During pregnancy, the ligaments holding the uterus in place become weak and so after pregnancy, some women now find their uteri tilted.
2. Prior surgery, infections and disease conditions like endometriosis may lead to a tilted uterus. In these cases, conception may be difficult but not impossible. Patients here may benefit from seeing a fertility doctor.

For more on endometriosis and pelvic inflammatory disease, please click on these links:

Daily Health Tips: Can PID Block My FallopianTubes?

Daily…

Q: Dr Ketch, thanks for being there always for those tips for healthy living. Please, is it safe to breastfeed while pregnant? And what fluids can be given to a 7-month old baby asides breast milk? Thanks

A: It’s generally considered safe to continue breastfeeding in pregnancy. In fact some mothers would even breastfeed the new baby and the older one, concurrently. This is called tandem nursing. However, given the requirements of breastfeeding and of pregnancy, this mum must ensure that she is eating healthy and drinking sufficient fluids.

If your already born baby can talk, he may comment on the fact that the taste of your breast milk has changed especially towards the end of pregnancy and a few days after the birth of the new baby as colostrum is produced.

For more posts on colostrums, please click on this link: https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/05/27/daily-health-tips-what-should-i-do-after-having-my-baby-if-my-breast-milk-doesnt-come-in-immediately/

For the mum, she may notice more…

Q: There are germs inside raw vegetables. Sometimes, washing it alone won’t kill the germs. What do we do?

A: Truth is, there are germs all around us and potentially, in other foods we eat. But that doesn’t mean that we should stop eating, right? 😀 We just need to figure out safe ways of preparing them and getting rid of germs that may be on their surface.

For green leafy veggies, buy them whole from the market. When you’re ready to use them, pick the leaves and then soak in a bowl of water that has salt or food-safe disinfectant in it, for about 5 minutes. Swish the bowl around to ensure that all the sand settles to the bottom. Then pick out the veggies carefully and rinse in clean water.

The same applies to other veggies too. For carrots and potatoes, buy them, scrub and then boil. If…

Q: It’s been two weeks now and my poop is green. What does that mean?

A: This question reminds me of an old show I used to watch, ‘You
are what you eat.’ It involved amongst other things, an examination of stool to
determine ones diet and body. I found it fascinating…useful but also disgusting!
😀

Stool can take a variety of colours depending on diet and the
quantity of bile in the faeces. Bile is initially bright green in colour and
gets progressively darker/brown as the bile is acted on by chemicals and
bacteria on its journey through the intestines.

Let’s take a look at different colors of poop and what they mean –
this sounds absolutely disgusting! 😀

Brown – Normal stool colour. Bilirubin in blood, when broken down,
ends up in the intestine. It is then acted upon by gut bacteria, which turn it
brown.

White –…

Q: Good evening Dr, your tips are really helpful. I am O NEG while my hubby is O positive. I am AA and he is AS. I had an abortion before we got married though. Right now I am about 38wks pregnant now but my Doc said I should have taken an injection before getting pregnant because our blood groups are incompatible to avoid fresh still birth. I have been so scared. Since on 31st August, I’ve been feeling pains in my abdomen and waist. I don’t know if it is labour.

A: Hello dear, you’re technically ready to deliver and so the pains you’re having may very well be labour. Please visit the hospital to check it out…especially given that you have no experience to compare the pains with.
The fact that you’re AA and your husband is AS, is not really an issue and is not the reason…

Q: Is spotting at 35 pregnancy dangerous? And will my baby be okay? I’m very scared and worried

A: Bleeding in late pregnancy may be due to a variety of issues ranging from infections to the ‘show’ that heralds the start of labour.

Causes of bleeding at this time include:

• Cervical changes which can lead to bleeding after sexual intercourse
• Infection of the cervix
• Infection of the vagina

Other causes include:

• Placenta previa.
• Placental abruption.

These are two conditions that affect the placenta.

The placenta is created during pregnancy and is attached to the wall of the uterus (the womb) by blood vessels. It is through the placenta that the baby receives vital nutrients and oxygen and also through this that it excretes waste products. The baby is connected to the placenta through the umbilical cord. So this is a pretty important organ in the general scheme of things. The…

Q: Good day Dr. I have a problem. January this year, a condom burst but I got morning after pill the following day. In the very same month, I had my periods; also the following month (February). Then in March I only had my periods for 2 day and had drops. Normally it’s 4 days. I bought almost 5 pregnancy tests and they were all negative. Last month I went to the clinic and did another pregnancy test. It was negative so I took 2 months contraceptive injection. So now I am having back pains and every time I squeeze my right breast liquid comes out. Is it possible that am pregnant

A: The morning after
pill which can be taken within 72 hours (some can be taken within 5 days) of
unprotected intercourse, can help prevent pregnancy. But it does not protect
you against sexually transmitted infections (STI) and…

Q: Good day, Doctor. Is there something wrong with my wife? Since we got married with a child 3 years ago, my wife does not have appetite for sex – only a day after her monthly cycle she enjoy to have sex with me

A: Thanks for
writing in. I can understand your worry as indeed sex is a critical aspect of
marriage. The way you feel needs to be dealt with, so that it doesn’t become a
bigger problem, later on.

Usually low sex drive could be due to stress, depression or even
the physical challenges that come with having had a baby or even going through
menopause. I’ll start with the most obvious question: have you tried talking
with your wife about this? Perhaps you could try setting the mood – get a
romantic dinner ready for two and then dress the part. Play some music, light
some…