Daily Health Tips: Update On Lassa Fever

Posted on January 16, 2016 by chatwithdrketch

As another week rolls to an end, we are faced with the news of a brand new case of Ebola in Sierra Leone even while we are still contending with the news of Lassa fever! And this was just after WHO had declared West Africa Ebola-free earlier in the week! By the way, for those in Lagos, a case of Lassa fever has also been confirmed here!

Transmission of Lassa Fever to humans is usually from contact with food or other household items that have been contaminated with faeces or urine of infected rat (Mastomys). Person to person transmission can also happen through direct contact with the bodily fluid (urine, blood, faeces etc) of an infected person.

Our big challenge in Nigeria may be related to our food production and distribution channels. Local food producers do not have automated means of drying produced foods like garri; so they dry them out in places where it may be easy for rats to have access.

Here are points to remember:

Avoid spreading food in places where rats have access to them eg grains, garri, yam chips for amala, plantain chips etc

The practice of eating tasting raw garri in the market and even drinking it (as quite a number of people like to do J) may not be a great idea now as you don’t know how this was processed.

If you believe your house may be infested by rats, please fumigate immediately. In the meantime, be sure to thoroughly clean and disinfect all surfaces especially in the kitchen. Indeed, starting the day by pouring a kettle of hot water all over the plates on your plates rack may be a great idea.

If you eat rats (and yes, some people do…especially the big ones which look almost human J), please give it a rest.

And do not forget your personal hygiene. Wash your hands and often too. If you cannot wash your hands at any given time, use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Be sure to wash your hands as soon as you can afterwards. Remember that sanitizers are not suitable for visibly dirty hands.

As we did during the Ebola time, please maintain your private space. Do not sneeze or cough into people’s faces.

If you’re caring for anyone with the infection, observe the rules of barrier nursing.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Federal Ministry of Health can be contacted on 08093810105, 08163215251, 08031571667 and 08135050005 to report any suspected case of Lassa Fever.

For more on this, please call https://chatwithdrketch.com/2016/01/09/daily-health-tips-lassa-fever/

Stay safe people, J

 

 

 

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Daily Health Tips: Piles And Constipation

Posted on January 15, 2016 by chatwithdrketch
Q: What causes piles and constipation?
 
A: Piles, known as haemorrhoids in medical lingo are swollen veins in the anal canal. They can be internal, external or both internal and external can co-exist. Internal haemorrhoids occur when veins swell within the rectum and external haemorrhoids are found under the skin around the anus.
 
These haemorrhoids develop when there is undue pressure in the pelvic and anal area as can occur when people strain to pass faeces (if they have diarrhoea or are constipated), in pregnancy (especially the last 6 months), in obese people, people who eat diets low in fibre and people who practice anal intercourse. When women strain in labour, haemorrhoids can also be made worse. For those who love to visit the toilet with their newspapers and spend ages reading them in there, well, you’ve got breaking news! 😀 Sitting on the toilet seat for prolonged periods can also cause haemorrhoids. As people grow older, the support structures for these veins also grow weaker…naturally 😉
Some internal haemorrhoids can be small veins which stay within the rectum. Usually these internal haemorrhoids, stay inside the anus causing no problems. Other internal haemorrhoids can be big veins that sag and protrude out of the anal canal. Straining would cause their delicate surfaces to bruise and bleed.
 
Sometimes, the straining is sufficient to cause the haemorrhoids to protrude out of the anal canal. This is probably what has been described above in the question. When the haemorrhoids are compressed by anal muscles, the pain is made worse and the pressure can lead to cutting off of blood supply to the haemorrhoids.
 
External haemorrhoids can clot due to irritation forming a hard, painful lump under the skin around the anus.
People with haemorrhoids will complain of streaks of blood in the stool after stooling, blood on the tissue after cleaning up, anal pain, anal itching or a lump around the anus.
 
Treatment involves the use of ointments to relieve pain, inflammation and itching. There are other minimally invasive and surgical options available that range from rubber band ligation to surgical removal of the haemorrhoids.
 
You can also limit the discomfort you have by keeping the anal area clean, using wet wipes (non-perfumed) to clean up after using the loo, sit on a bowl of plain warm water for about 15 minutes about twice or three times per day and also use some pain relief, if in pain.
 
To prevent this, ensure that your diet has sufficient amounts of fruits and vegetables. Remember that if you take a regular flat plate, half of this should be filled with fruits and vegetables, half of the plate with complex carbohydrates and the last half with proteins.
 
Limit the time you spend sitting on the toilet seat (read your newspapers elsewhere :D), use the toilet as soon as you feel pressed (that way the fluid in the stool is not absorbed making the stool hard) and then don’t strain when you do go. Drink sufficient quantities of water daily, exercise (to keep everything moving along nicely :D)
 
For tiups on constipation, please click on this link
https://chatwithdrketch.com/2015/01/23/daily-health-tips-difficulty-with-passing-stool/
 
Have a great evening 😀
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Daily Health Tips: Eye Drops For Cataracts?

Posted on January 14, 2016 by chatwithdrketch
Q: Doc please is there any eye drop that can clear cataract? I will appreciate your esteemed advice. I always strain my eye whenever I am reading. Is there any medical advice please?
 
A: Eye drop for cataracts? Let’s tell you what it means to have cataracts first 😀
 
The lens of the eye is usually clear and is made up of protein and water. As one gets older, the protein gets clumped and vision becomes blurred. Initially, this may not significantly affect vision but with time, it becomes really difficult to read, drive a car etc. It’s like reading through a ‘water fall’ which, by the way, is the meaning of cataract 😀 In the initial stages, using stronger lighting may be helpful but with time, if this worsens and interferes with daily activities, surgery may be the next course of action.
 
The symptoms of cataract include blurred vision, double vision and difficulty with vision at night. Patients with cataract may also complain of yellowing of colours, seeing halos and being unduly sensitive to light.
 
Cataracts may occur as a natural process of aging as we grow older (oh, the joys of youth!!! :D). It is also common in diabetics, people with high blood pressure and people who smoke. Obesity, previous eye surgery or previous injury to the eye, family history of cataracts and excessive exposure to sunlight may also be pre-disposing factors. Some children develop cataract early in life while some others are born with it. Some are also due to infections in the mother while pregnant (like rubella – German measles) but these ones hardly cause problems with vision. When they do, removal of the cataract is the way to go.
 
Finding out that you’ve got a cataract is not the end of the world…even if it ‘kinda’ looks like that 😀 If it doesn’t interfere with regular, daily activities, then perhaps you should leave well alone. In the interim, you could improve the lighting at home, read with a magnifying glass, limit night driving and be sure to protect your eyes from the sun’s glare by wearing good sun glasses. If it interferes with these daily activities, then surgery is the option. The surgery involves taking out the cloudy lens and replacing with a transparent plastic lens that allows the person see properly.
 
Though we really don’t know how to stop the development of cataracts or halt their progression, limiting your risk factors may help. This involves eating more fruits and vegetables and keeping weight within normal limits, quitting smoking, limiting alcohol use, protecting eyes from the sun’s glare by wearing good sun glasses and ensuring that any chronic medical conditions like Diabetes Mellitus and hypertension are kept well under control.
For other reasons why you may be straining your eyes, please click on these links:
https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/11/28/daily-health-tips-why-is-my-vision-cloudy/
https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/03/21/daily-health-tips-what-is-this-glaucoma/
 
Have a great evening 😀
 
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Daily Health Tips: I Am Very Thin And I Don’t Have Appetite

Posted on January 13, 2016 by chatwithdrketch
Q: I am very thin because I don’t have appetite for food. Please advice
 
A: I reproduce below a previous post I had made on this:
Thanks for writing in. The first thing really, would be to find the cause of the loss of appetite. Some people experience this as a symptom of an underlying disease which can range from thyroid problems, infections to cancers. So, excluding all these is important.
Then what to do?
• Eat smaller and more frequent meals/snacks. Some people naturally, ‘freak out’ when they see a huge bowl of food…how much more someone trying to get back into the grove of food 😀
 
• Limit your fluid intake when you eat and much as it breaks my heart to say so, do not fill up on too many veggies. They keep you full but provide few calories…which you need if your appetite loss is leading to weight loss.
 
• When you do feel hungry, don’t be shy…make up for lost time 😀
 
• Go for visually appealing meals and easy to digest foods like pap (ogi), custard, puddings etc
 
• If weight loss is a real issue at this time, go for peanut butter spreads on bread, mayonnaise dressings, full cream milk, full fat yoghurt, fried foods etc.
 
• Exercise is also a great way to work up an appetite at this time.
 
• If you feel food is bland, try using some spices and experiment with different textures eg some crispy cereal or nuts sprinkled on oatmeal porridge.
 
• It may also be a good time to experiment with and discover new dishes. All of us are creatures of habit and most tend to stick to the same meals…forever! Switch things around and try something new.
 
In Nigeria, most people look to a multivitamin to help stimulate hunger…not sure where that teaching came from 😀 But you do need multivitamin supplementation if your loss of appetite is making you not eat sufficiently. Please let your doctor know if all the tips above do not significantly help so he can prescribe one while figuring out the cause of the loss of appetite.
You would have observed that I was silent on appetite stimulants (medications). They exist but also have side effects that can be a problem. So, please don’t go buying them off the shelf 😀
 
Finally, remember that ‘loss of appetite’ for a few hours (most likely less than a day) is not sufficient excuse to go bingeing on all the high calorie-foods mentioned. Let’s not exchange one problem for another, people 😀 If in doubt, please see your doctor.
 
I hope this helps.
 
Have a good night, y’all 😀
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Daily Health Tips: Rhesus Incompatibility Re-visited

Posted on January 12, 2016 by chatwithdrketch
Q: Dr, please can blood group affect pregnancy like husband O-negative and wife in another group? Thanks.
 
A: This difference leads to a situation called Rhesus incompatibility. As a result of the difference in the Rhesus factors of the hubby and wifey, if the wife gives birth to a baby that is Rhesus Positive, her body will recognize the baby as a foreign body and thus mobilize antibodies to fight the baby. However, in a first pregnancy, this may not be a problem as this can only happen when there is mixing of mum’s and baby’s blood. This would usually happen at the time of separation of the placenta during birth. So, before the wife’s body can mount an effective response to the ‘threat’, the baby has been delivered. However, these antibodies are now ready to, more efficiently, deal with another threat as soon as it presents itself, perhaps through another pregnancy.
 
During a second or subsequent pregnancy, these antibodies mount an attack on the cells of the baby to leading anaemia, jaundice, brain damage etc in a new baby.
However, this can be prevented by ensuring that wifey gets an injection, Rhogam within 72 hours of birth. This injection deceives the woman’s body into thinking it has already produced antibodies against the baby and thus, the body technically understand, it doesn’t have to do same. The particles of Rhogam cannot cross the placenta and so baby is safe.
 
For More on this topic please click on this:
https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/09/07/daily-health-tips-my-hubby-is-rhesus-positive-and-i-am-rhesus-negative-is-my-baby-at-risk/
 
I hope y’all had a great day 😀
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Daily Health Tips: Can I Take Alcohol While Breastfeeding?

Posted on January 11, 2016 by chatwithdrketch
Q: Hello Doctor, my baby is almost 2 months old and I am breast feeding. I would like to know if I can have a glass of wine once in a while even while still breastfeeding. If not, how long does alcohol stay in the blood when you take it so that I can pump and feed baby?
 
A: Congratulations on your new baby! He/she will be a blessing to you and your family!
 
Diet and indeed anything we eat, affect our breast milk and by extension, baby. These are foods to avoid or limit their consumption while breast feeding:
 
Caffeine in coffee (try decaffeinated and stick with 2 small tea cups), energy drinks, some soft drinks etc. This makes the baby irritable and by extension, makes sleep difficult for the baby. Now, you don’t want that, do you?
 
Alcohol: This should be avoided at all costs as it does not mix quite well with breastfeeding. The alcohol consumed makes its way into the breast milk in about the same concentration as it does in blood. Though baby is exposed to just a fraction of it, the fact that baby’s liver is unable to excrete this alcohol as well as an adult makes even this small amount a potential problem. This alcohol has been found to affect baby’s sleep and feeding pattern (babies appear to drink less milk after alcohol intake by mother) and also baby’s motor development. Motor development refers to development of baby’s ability to move around and manipulate his/her environment.
 
Old wives’ tales have it that drinking alcohol increases milk production but there is no scientific evidence. If anything, alcohol causes dehydration and by extension reduces breast milk production.
 
The length of time the alcohol stays in your breast milk depends on how much you drink and can also vary from person to person. If you take a drink, it could be about 2 to 3 hours before it clears from breast milk.
 
Can you pump and feed baby at this time? Well, yes. You can take the wine before you feed baby so that in another 3 hours, when you need to feed baby again, the alcohol would have cleared from the blood. Another option is to express the breast milk before you drink and feed baby with that in the hours after drinking.
 
You did say, you asked this question because you would like to take a glass of wine once in a while. This may not necessarily pose a challenge to your baby if you follow the rule of thumb above. Remember, however, that when you take alcohol you run the risk of becoming intoxicated and being unable to take care of your baby apart from the risks noted above.
 
I can sense a number of you frowning at me and saying, ‘Dr Ketch, don’t encourage her to drink!’ Well, this is not meant to be an encouragement to drink. It’s just stating facts because I am well aware that even if I ask her not to drink (and I have no right to do that) she will still drink if she sets her mind to do so! So, the focus is on, how this can be done safely, if at all 😀
 
Cigarette (yeah, yeah, I know it’s not food) should also be avoided as it reduces the production of breast milk.
 
If baby reacts to what the mother ate, efforts should be made to pinpoint what the mother ate before the incident started and then eliminating that from the diet to see if the diarrhea or allergy stops.
 
Make sure that you eat well: lots of fruits and vegetables and complex carbohydrates. Cut out the junk which will not help you achieve your weight loss goals and in addition have empty calories. And drink sufficient fluids daily.
 
Be careful before taking any drug as most find their way into your baby.
 
 
Hope this helps.
Goodnight y’all 😀
 
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Food Cravings And Aversions.

Posted on January 10, 2016 by chatwithdrketch

Food cravings and aversions: I certainly had loads of aversions with my first pregnancy. I can’t remember any cravings as I couldn’t get any food to stay down. However, some people develop a craving for the oddest, craziest foods when pregnant. Go easy on eating for two though…the healthy living dictum of eating loads of fruits/vegetables and low calories does not change during pregnancy. The more you gorge or give in to the food cravings, the more work you have to do to get it off after the baby. However, if you find yourself craving things like clay, sand etc, please see your doctor as it could be a sign of iron deficiency anaemia.

 

For more on pregnancy, diet and so much more, get your copy of the book, ‘Just For The Health Of It’

This is a great read and a fabulous gift to loved ones. It is a great gift for anyone who wishes to live and eat healthy, lose weight, get ready for pregnancy and parenting. Buy copies for bridal showers, baby showers, festive seasons etc. It’s a gift that keeps on giving 😀

Here’s what someone said after receiving it as a gift:

‘Good morning, Dr Ketch. I was given your book (Just For The Health Of It) as a Christmas gift by a friend of mine. I’m so happy. God bless you’

Make yourself and someone else happy by getting a copy from any of the following outlets:

1) Laterna Books online shop with nationwide delivery. Just click on this link: https://www.laternabooks.com/laterna_product_details.php?v=15450&c=44

 

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

 

3) 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.

 

4) If you’re outside the country, please visit Amazon through this link http://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

For those in Abuja and environs, please call 07030739403 or pick it up at No 5 Bricks Market, Dawaki 11 Market, Dawaki extension.

For those in Awka, please call 08189944090.

Have a great week ahead, y’all 😀

 

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Daily Health Tips: Lassa Fever

Posted on January 9, 2016 by chatwithdrketch

Hello everyone!

I’m sure you’ve all heard about the outbreak of Lassa fever in some states in Nigeria. Just in case you wondered what all of that means, here’s a quick class.

Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever. This essentially means that this sort of fever interferes with the body’s natural ability to form clots when bleeding occurs and can also damage the walls of small vessels encouraging leakage of blood with resultant internal bleeding. It is also infectious.

Transmission to humans is usually from contact with food or other household items that have been contaminated with faeces or urine of infected rat (Mastomys). Person to person transmission can also happen through direct contact with the bodily fluid (urine, blood, faces etc) of an infected person.

Symptoms include: fever and general weakness, followed by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, headache, cough, sore throat etc. This may progress to bleeding, facial swelling, seizures etc

Treatment of this disease using anti-viral drug, Ribavarin, appears effective especially if started early and so the focus is on early diagnosis and prompt treatment, if infected and on prevention for those not infected.

Prevention is focused on good hygiene which makes it difficult for rats to thrive. Tips to help with this include:

  • Disposal of food far from the living environment and on a regular basis
  • Storage of grains and other food stuff in containers that are ‘rodent-proof’
  • Clearing of surrounding bushes around your house
  • Ensuring doors and windows shut properly and have tight-fitting screens

Other general hygiene tips like consistent hand washing, wearing personal protective equipment by staff in healthcare settings to guard against body fluid splashes  etc suffice. Remember that family members caring for people with this disease may be exposed to their bodily fluids and so absence of hygiene measures at home and indeed in hospital settings encourages this infection to spread. So, remember the Ebola measures to prevent infection? These are very useful here!

For more on infection control measures, please click on these links:

https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/08/01/daily-health-tips-ebola-facts-and-fiction/

Daily Health Tips: Ebola Virus? What’s That?!

Stay safe, people J

 

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Daily Health Tips: How Do I Keep My Baby From Vomiting His Medications?

Posted on January 8, 2016 by chatwithdrketch

Q: Happy New year, Doctor. You’re really doing a great job! Please, my question is, are there any reasons why my 6 month-old baby boy vomits every drug given to him since birth? We’ve tried different methods of administering but all to no avail. My 2nd question is, how do I introduce solid food to my son after 6months of exclusive breastfeeding? He’s refusing everything we give him even water. Thanks, doctor

A: I love your question! Especially the first part …and I couldn’t resist a huge smile! 😀 This is a question that has bugged mankind since the beginning of time. Many people have probably come across that internet picture that shows a ‘mother’ that held her baby down, head down, nose closed, legs tucked between her own legs while she tried to feed him/her ‘something’ 😀 Please do not go that route at all 😀

Now, I’ll share with you my personal secret to getting the drugs down. Cradle the baby’s head in the crook of your arm. This holds the head steady. Use the shallow spoons that come with the medications. Aim for the angle of the mouth/cheek. This ensures that the medication enters the mouth between the cheek and the gum towards the back of the mouth. It skips the tongue especially the front and center of the tongue where the taste buds are concentrated. Keep the spoon with the medication there and settle in…this could be for a for a long time, if you have an interesting child 😀 He will eventually swallow the medication. Give sufficient time for him/her to have swallowed before letting him/her go. Another trick is to blow gently into his face, he will blink and….swallow! You could also buy a sterile syringe (minus the needle) or a buy a new dropper (like the type used in eye drops or ear drops). Take little bits at a time (eg if the amount to give is 5mls, take 1ml at a time) and again, direct the drug towards the side of his cheek.

Another important tip is to look for better-tasting medications. Some medications just taste foul! L

Now the next challenge is how to keep the medication down after he has swallowed! 😀 Most drugs will cause nausea and vomiting as a side effect. So, this is not unusual. Give sufficient time for him/her to have swallowed before letting him/her go.

Usually, the intestine absorbs medications within 30 minutes and so if your child vomits after 30 minutes, you don’t have to repeat the medication. It is assumed that the drug has been absorbed.

If this vomiting, however, continues and perhaps, your baby cannot keep anything down, please see your doctor.

The answer to your second question can be found in any of these links:

https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/12/29/daily-health-tips-weaning-foods/

https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/12/29/daily-health-tips-weaning/

Daily Health Tips: My 10-Month Old Baby Wants To Be Fed Only Breast Milk!

Have a great evening, y’all 😀

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Daily Health Tips: What’s The Cure For Foul-Smelling Genitals?

Posted on January 7, 2016 by chatwithdrketch
Q: Good morning Dr Ketch. Happy New Year! Thanks for the wonderful work God has been using you to do here. Please I want to know the cure for foul smelling vagina.
 
A: Happy New Year to you! And thank you for your kind words.
I have written on this before and reproduce same below.
 
Some degree of vaginal odour is common with all women. In the same way, some degree of discharge is also normal as the glands in the vagina and cervix produce fluid which wash away dry, dead cells and flush out bacteria. A strong vaginal odour which appears different from normal especially when associated with other symptoms like a burning sensation, itching, discharge etc may be suggestive of a problem…some more easily solved than others.
 
For instance:
Poor vaginal hygiene. This can be easily remedied by washing daily with unscented or mildly scented soap and loads of water, not douching, cleaning from the front to the back etc. Vaginal odour may also be more pronounced during a menstrual period and after sexual intercourse. And so, more frequent baths (as much as practicable) during and/or before these periods may be helpful. Frequent change of sanitary towels and tampons are also helpful measures. Forgotten tampons are actually a cause of vaginal odour.
 
(For more on vaginal hygiene, please click on the links below:https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/04/02/daily-health-tips-should-i-wash-my-intimates-with-disnfectant/
 
https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/10/24/daily-health-tips-should-i-add-vinegar-to-my-bath-water-for-intimate-cleaning/)
 
A fishy smell associated with vaginal discharge is suggestive of overgrowth of the vagina by bacteria (bacterial vaginosis). This may be caused by over use of antibiotics or douching.
 
(For more on douching, please clock on this link:https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/09/30/daily-health-tips-what-is-douching/)
 
Yellow or greenish or frothy discharge with a bad smell with pain and itching while urinating is suggestive of trichomoniasis infection (a sexually transmitted infection)
 
Some cancers like cervical or vaginal cancer may also cause vaginal odour.
 
What’s the remedy? Well, if it’s due to lack of vaginal hygiene, that’s easily solved as noted above. If there are other associated symptoms which may suggest other problems, than a proper diagnosis needs to be made so that adequate treatment can be given.
 
In the meantime, vaginal hygiene is a good place to start. Nicely suggest taking a nice leisurely bath before sexual intercourse, give broad hints about things you read in places that may be useful to her…be sure to also suggest some for yourself too, so that she doesn’t feel you’re picking on her. How this is communicated is key as offence may be taken, not necessarily because of what was said but because of how it was said. So, the right words are important 😀
 
I hope this helps.
 
Have a good night, y’all 😀
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