chatwithketch

Q: How can high blood pressure be reduced besides taking bp tablets?

A: To reduce your risk of high blood pressure, incorporate these lifestyle measures:
Reduce your intake of salt. Use salt sparingly while cooking and there should be no added salt after cooking. Remember that there are hidden sources of salt that we probably don’t think of like in salted nuts, processed foods like bacon and sausage, chips etc

Eat less oil. If you have to use oil at all, be sure to do so sparingly. Even the heart healthy oils are loaded with calories.

Eat more fruits and vegetables as they contain loads of goodness. They also ensure that you do not pile on excessive weight that may also predispose you to high blood pressure.

Exercise or make sure that you are involved in activities for at least 150 minutes every week. This could be in the form of going to the gym or doing other activities that you enjoy that will add to your activity chart for the week. You could dance, skip, run, hike, climb stairs instead of using elevators etc.

Quit smoking and reduce your alcohol consumption.
Learn to cope with and manage your stress better. Stress is a part of everyday life and it is practically impossible to live without stress. What we can do is to manage our response to our everyday stressors.

Remember that high blood pressure is a silent killer and really doesn’t give any signs. If your friend is having headaches attributed to high blood pressure, then he really needs to do something NOW. Please let him go see his doctor to make a proper diagnosis and then recommend appropriate treatment.

For related posts, please click on these links:

Daily Health Tips: Pre-hypertension

Daily Health Tips: My High Blood Pressure Risks

Have a good night, people 😀

Q: Good day doctor, please how does one take care of piles in a 5yrs old girl? That is the external one, in which the inner part comes out.

A; Piles known as haemorrhoids in children is not very common. Indeed, my first suggestion would be to get your baby checked out by a paediatrician to confirm that this is not due to problems like Crohns Disease (a problem-inflammation of the bowel) or even portal hypertension in which there is backwards pressure in the vein (blood vessel) that carries blood from the digestive tract to the liver.

Once these have been ruled out, we can focus on the more common cause of haemorrhoids in children which is constipation. The causes of constipation in children could be dehydration or even a lack of fibre in their diet. So, if you’re fond of feeding your baby highly processed foods without including fruits, vegetables, complex carbohydrates like local rice, beans, oatmeal etc, your baby could be at risk. If your child, also, does not get enough activity daily and spends more time in front of the television, computer or playing handheld/video games, this is a potential problem. Children who drink a lot of soda or soft drinks/minerals, as we call them in Nigeria, tea/coffee are prone to this. The caffeine found in these drinks causes the body to lose water and thus can cause constipation.

What can you do to help relieve the pain that your baby is feeling? Sitz bath is helpful. Help your child sit in a basin or bath tub of warm water several times a day (2 to 3 times). This helps to relieve the pain. When she uses the toilet, using regular tissue paper is out of the question as this will cause more irritation and itching. Unscented baby wipes or even wet tissue is a good way to go.

Pain relief can be with over the counter pain relievers (analgesics) like ibuprofen. You can also wrap some ice in a towel and have your child sit on this intermittently.
Childhood haemorrhoids usually go away with a fibre-rich diet, exercise, sufficient fluid intake in a day and loads of love 😀 If the symptoms persist after about two weeks, please check with her doctor again.

For related topic, please click on this link: https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/03/12/daily-health-tips-help-please-i-have-chronic-piles-haemorrhoids/
Have a great evening, y’all 😀

Q: Please ma’am, a pregnant woman that her breast is swollen up and she is complaining that her breast is paining her…which drug can she take to reduce the pain?

A: Thanks for writing in, dear. Breast pain/tenderness during pregnancy is to be expected and one of the signs of pregnancy. This is due to the hormones, Estrogen and progesterone, increase in blood flow and fat deposits in the breast…all in preparation for the job of breastfeeding the soon-to-be-born baby. To help out during this period, she should invest in a good bra that provides the right support and sleep with bra tops or sports bras when sleeping to give her more support if she’s uncomfortable while sleeping. Her partner should also understand this peculiar situation and refrain from touching her breasts during this painful period. The good news is that, this too, shall pass. Usually, by the end of the first trimester, the breast pain is history! 😀

For more signs of pregnancy, please click on this link: https://chatwithdrketch.com/2013/10/26/baby-in-the-tummy-its-all-up-to-mummy-is-it/

Have a great evening, people 😀

Q: Mum, please what can I use to get these stretch marks off my body because I have used many prescribed oils and drugs but still the stretch marks are a lot and due to this, I can’t wear short clothes.

A: Hi dear, I can certainly empathize! Not being able to wear what you want because of certain limitations can be a pain 😀 Here is a post I had done on this subject before. I hope it helps. Remember though, that true beauty comes from the inside and not necessarily from the things we wear 😀

Stretch marks occur when the skin is over-stretched like during pregnancy, during the growth spurt of the teenage years and during rapid weight gain or loss. So the skin, sort of, loses its elasticity leading to the formation of the marks.
Thus, the ‘damage’ to the skin is done from the inside and not the outside. This makes it difficult to really take care of it from the outside. Having said that, creams that contain shea butter, cocoa butter and Vitamin E are thought to be useful in causing the marks to fade.

Other creams that contain olive oil, castor oil and fruit acids may also be helpful. There are some other advanced treatments like glycolic acid peels etc, (that you must NOT attempt on your own) that are helpful with old and new marks. Discuss these options with your dermatologist.

For related topics, please click on these links: https://chatwithdrketch.com/2013/12/26/daily-health-tips-smooth-and-supple-skin/

Daily Health Tips: Pimples Re-Visited!

Have a good evening, y’all 😀

Q: Good morning Doc. Please, I want to know the cause and cure for my right breast which is bringing out milk and the left one is not. Please how do I treat it?

A: Hello and thanks for writing in.

Breast discharge in people who are not pregnant could be due to a variety of issues and is known as galactorrhea.

The causes include breast abcess (boil), injury to the breast, and hormonal imbalance. I had written a post on this before. Please click on the link below to read about this:

Daily Health Tips: Why Do I Have Breast Discharge?

I hope y’all had a great day 😀

Here’s to a healthier you!

Lots of people say, ‘I eat only once a day, how can I possibly add weight with that?’ If you eat once a day, chances are you snack on other things during the day that you do not consider as food…it could very well be cookies etc. But even if you don’t snack on anything, chances are that when you eat once, you binge and essentially make up for all the meals that you didn’t eat during the day….and so we’re back to square 1 :D. Remember that you’re actually allowed up to five small meals in a day. 3 main meals and 2 snacks.

Some other people also write in to ask me about slimming pills or green tea or any of those wonder drugs that make you shed weight on ‘seconds’ and instruct you never to eat of specific classes of foods. Let’s use green tea as an example. Green tea is great and studies have shown that it speeds up metabolism and so helps you break down all the food you’ve taken in, faster. However, weight gain is a function of what you’ve taken in and what you’ve taken out. If you take in 3000 calories and you’re able to burn only 500 calories, then clearly, there is some excess that will get converted to fat et al. Remember that some of our ‘snack’ like some burgers pack as much as 500 to 600 calories in one serving….and that’s just one meal (or maybe even snack ) with 3 more meals and perhaps another snack to account for. And so, if you are loading your system with more food than you need, can green tea help? Find out my thoughts in the book, Just For The Health Of It.

You can get a copy via the shop now link on our facebook page. Or you can get it through:

1) Jumia.com. Just click on this link http://www.jumia.com.ng/jumia-books-just-for-the-health-of-it-with-dr-ketch-179486.html and get a copy. You have the option of paying when the book is delivered to you or paying online. This service is available all over Nigeria.

2) Another option for those in Lagos is Laterna Bookshop on 13, Oko-Awo Close, Off Adetokunbo Ademola Street,. Victoria Island.

3) If you’re outside the country, please visit Amazon through this linkhttp://www.amazon.com/Just-Health-Ketch-Pregnancy-Parenting/dp/9789398026/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426246647&sr=1-1&keywords=just+for+the+health+of+it+with+dr+ketch+olalere+nkechi

Q: Hello Doctor, what could be the cause of ear pus? This girl of 4yrs has been treated with several medications with no relief. It smells a lot. Please help

A: Thanks for writing in. Ear infections can happen as a result of a cold (upper respiratory tract infection). Other times, it may not even be related to this. With infections, there is fluid build up in the middle ear. These fluids, as in other cases where fluids collect, form a rich culture medium for germs to grow. Pus then forms as the body tries to fight off this infection. The combined pressure of the fluid and pus can cause enough pressure in the middle ear and the ear drum to cause significant pain and difficulty hearing. There is also accompanying fever. The pressure can even ‘burst’ the ear drum with resultant drainage of pus.
The baby with this infection would usually tug at his ear while crying, complains of pain and headache, has a fever, may drain fluid from ear, difficulty sleeping and even hearing etc
Usually the body is able to deal with this issue on its own successfully fighting off the infection but sometimes these symptoms persist for a long time. Antibiotics may help reduce the duration of the symptoms. The does of antibiotics must be finished even if the symptoms disappear.

Q: Please Dr. Ketch, what antibiotic can I take to treat impetigo?

A: Impetigo is an infection of the skin caused by bacteria. I reproduce below a post I had made on this which addressed impetigo in a child but treatment is essentially same. So here goes…

Q: Good evening. Please Doctor, what is the cause and treatment for impetigo in infant (less than 3wks)?

Q: Please ma’am, what makes the heart beat faster without being hypertensive? What can I use to reduce cholesterol?

A: Palpitations (feeling that your heart is beating too fast or too hard) occur when you get the sense that you can feel your heart beat. Ordinarily, your heart goes about its business of keeping you alive and well by beating inside your chest without you being aware, right? Some conditions, however, may make your heart beats obvious and you probably have experienced some: anxiety, panic attacks, stress, after some exercise, when you have a fever, after taking some coffee or any caffeine-containing food/fluid and also after taking in nicotine as in cigarette smoke, cigar or even chewing tobacco. Conditions like pregnancy and taking drugs eg cough medicines that contain stimulants may also cause palpitations.

Usually these palpitations would disappear after a brief appearance, but if they appear frequently and are accompanied by other symptoms like chest pain, being short of breath etc, please be sure to see your doctor to confirm that this is not a sign of a bigger problem with significant complications.

Treatment is focused on the cause. Where stress or anxiety is the trigger, management is really all about coping with stress and making sure that you have more ‘good’ stress than bad stress (remember that good stress has a life cycle…it starts and ends within defined periods while bad stress is from situations that are not handled properly and remain a source of ‘worry’ continually).

If it’s due to caffeine and nicotine…simple: stop 😀 or significantly reduce. For coffee, 2 cups (teensy weensy lady-like cups :D)a day should be the very maximum 😀 For nicotine though, you just have to let it go.

Finally, if you indulge in other drugs of ‘recreation’ eg cocaine etc, please leave well alone!

As for cholesterol, the first lesson we all need to learn is that cholesterol is not completely a demon 😀 There is the good cholesterol and the bad cholesterol. So, when we talk about high cholesterol, we usually refer to the bad one, Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) Cholesterol, which can lead to blockage of the vessels and inevitably, a heart attack…not good news! But we do need the good one, High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. It mops up excess cholesterol and prevents LDL from being changed into the form that causes heart disease. Indeed, we are encouraged to take foods that increase this and this in turn improves heart health.

So, what foods can help reduce bad cholesterol in the body and increase the level of good cholesterol? Here are some examples:

Oats and other whole grains which form soluble fiber that reduce the absorption of cholesterol and in addition, give you a feeling of satiety for long. This prevents you feeling hungry more often and reaching for ‘unhealthy’ snacks 😀 Other foods in this group include okro, beans, apples, citrus fruits and garden egg (egg plants).

Soya beans, heart healthy oils like Olive oil and Canola oil, nuts (which should only be served in handfuls) and fatty fish like mackerel also reduce LDL.

Generally eating healthy with lots of fruits and vegetables, cutting out the white carbs (pastries etc), exercising (at least 150 minutes weekly), ensuring you are not overweight and quitting smoking.

Have a good evening, fabulous people 😀

Q: Dr. I’m glad because of this your page. You ‘re so wonderful by the testimonies of the page. May Almighty who for His mercy loved you to this kind gesture, bless you abundantly. Please, do me a favour, because I’m confused. Can a woman have menstruation and Ovulation at the same time? If possible, is it normal?

A: Amen to your many prayers and I love you right back! :d
Can one menstruate and ovulate at the same time? Yes…this may not be very common but it is very possible. Is this normal? It’s not abnormal :d It all depends on a woman’s cycle. To understand this some more, I reproduce the details of a post I made a while ago on a related question.

Q: Please Dr, is it absolutely free to have sex during menstruation? Secondly, if it is free, can a woman get pregnant during that period?

A: I had to hide a quick smile when I read this 😀 I’m not sure what you mean by free. Free from stress or free from sexually transmitted infection? Or perhaps you want to know if it’s safe?
Well, having sexual intercourse during a lady’s menstrual period does not make a man impotent, neither does it kill vital organs in his body…contrary to all the stories you have probably heard 😀

However, it is obviously messy and it is also easy to contract Sexually Transmitted Infections at this time.

Can one get pregnant at this time? Unlikely but not impossible. It depends on the length of a woman’s cycle. If she has a short cycle, she could be seeing her period a few days away from her ovulation. Thus, if she has sexual intercourse, perhaps towards the end of her period, the sperm, which can stay ‘alive’ for days after sexual intercourse, are still available to fertilize the eggs released during ovulation. So, having sexual intercourse during menstruation is NOT a means of contraception, people 😀

For more on this topic, please click on this link https://chatwithdrketch.com/2015/04/10/daily-health-tips-irregular-periods/

Have a good night everyone 🙂

Here’s to a healthier you!