chatwithketch

Today is World Egg Day! Did I hear you snigger?! Seriously??? World Egg Day? Well, yes. I meant that absolutely seriously! 😀

I have been told that when I was younger, I would sneak into the kitchen at night to crack open an egg and drink it…raw!!! That’s absolutely disgusting! 😀 And vile, too…who does that?!Now, I can’t even stand the smell of raw eggs. I scrub anything that has touched it, until I can’t smell the egg even the tiniest bit! But, I digress… This is not about me or my love/hate relationship with eggs.

When was the last time you had an egg? You’ve probably heard that eggs are bad for your heart and don’t indulge, right? Or when you do indulge, you feel you’re really committing a serious sin? Well, here’s news for you!

Eggs were traditionally thought to be bad because of the high cholesterol content in the yolks. However, recent studies have shown that the cholesterol in diet does not play as much a role in increasing blood cholesterol as does the saturated fat in foods like pastries, cakes etc. Eggs are full of protein (they contain all the essential amino acids), contain loads of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants which help fight diseases to boot. However, diabetics and people with a genetic disorder, hypercholesterolaemia (too much cholesterol in the blood), may want to check with their doctors. Generally, one egg a day works for most people.

For more on eggs, please click on the link below:

Daily Health Tips: Egg-celent News!

Have a great weekend, y’all 🙂

Q: Good afternoon Dr. Ketch, I stumbled on your health talks on DSTV today and I also searched the internet to read more about you and your programmes and I was very impressed. May Almighty God continue to be with you in all ramifications (Amen).

Dr. Ketch, my wife and I got married in 2012 and she could not conceive until February this year. But she had miscarriage at 11th week of the pregnancy. The scan showed that the foetus had stop breathing since when it was 7th week. When I asked the doctor what could have led to it, he said stress or her body chemistry might have caused it but I wasn’t convinced because my wife didn’t undergo any stress during the period of the pregnancy and she had undergone series of test at UCH, Ibadan and some private hospitals ever before her conception.

I want to know what could have actually caused the miscarriage and the death of foetus at 7th week before the miscarriage actually happened at 11th week despite that she was feeling ok before the miscarriage; what to do to easily help get pregnant and what to do if she conceives to avoid the same occurrence?
A: Amen to all those wonderful prayers! 😉
Condolences on the loss of your baby. It is never an easy experience for anyone to go through. I’m really happy that you want to find out what happened and what to do to prevent this in future. I trust that ou and your wife have found ways of openly discussing this with each other so that you both can air your hurts and heal together.
Unfortunately, oftentimes, the cause of a miscarriage is not identified. Your wife needs to understand this so that she doesn’t blame herself unduly. Having said that though, first trimester miscarriages are mainly due to problems with the baby/fetus. These problems could be due to problems with the placenta. This is how the baby receives its nutrients in the womb and so, if this organ cannot deliver, a miscarriage might occur. There may also be a problem with the baby’s chromosomes, such that a baby may receive too many or too few genetic materials or there may be a damaged egg/sperm. Other associated risk factors include smoking and drinking alcohol, being overweight, malnutrition, increased maternal age, trauma and drug abuse. By the way, trimester is 3 months of pregnancy. So, first trimester refers to the 1st three months, 2nd trimester, the 2nd three months and 3rd trimester, the last three months

To try for a pregnancy again, remember to ensure there is unprotected sexual intercourse at least three times a week with ejaculation of sufficient amounts of semen. Your wife should start of folate supplements as soon as she can to prepare her and baby for the journey ahead.
To prevent a recurrence, focus on ensuring that your wife stays healthy and does not indulge in harmful habits like smoking and excessive alcohol drinking. Other helpful tips include eating healthy, keeping weight within normal parameters, avoiding trauma and not abusing drugs.
In addition, as soon as she gets pregnant again, she should register or antenatal as soon as possible and keep to her appointments religiously. She should also contact her obstetrician, even if she’s not due for an appointment, something may be wrong with her baby.

For more on this topic, please click on the link below:

Daily Health Tips: What Should I Do To Conceive Again After A Miscarriage?

Good night everyone! 😀

I’ve received a lot of questions on infertility in the past coiple of days. I guess because one of our 5 minute shows which aired on DSTV earlier in the week was on low sperm count and infertility. So, I’ve reproduced two of these questions and provided answers.

Q: My wife and I have been trusting God for the fruit of the womb. How can we go about it medically?

Q: Good morning doc, I want to thank you so much for your assistance through this page. Please what kind of food do I need to take to increase my fertility? I will be trying to get pregnant by the end of October. Thanks.
A: First, trying to have a baby is only recognized as an issue after one full year of trying, for most people. So, mothers-in-law and sisters-in-law and all other concerned citizens who start looking at the ‘bride’s’ tummy a few weeks after a wedding, please back off 😀 Now, this one full year means that give or take, there is regular (on at least 3 days of a week), unprotected (without condoms or any barrier method of contraception) sexual intercourse and that this intercourse ends with the ejaculation of a sufficient amount of semen. So, if your husband stays in Kaduna and you live in Lagos and perhaps only see once a month, you may not qualify to be classified under infertility.

Other lifestyle habits that can help a couple in their conception journey include:
Healthy choices in terms of diet (practice portion control, eat lots of fruits and veggies etc), keeping a healthy weight (try and stay within your BMI), exercising most days a week for at least 30 minutes, manage your stress etc Folic acid supplements are also great as they help protect baby from defects in their neural tubes (spinal cord)

Having sexual intercourse closer to the time of ovulation may be helpful in increasing chances of pregnancy. Does this also increase the chances of having a baby boy or girl? Despite ‘claims’ that male chromosomes swim faster, there’s no guarantee that having sexual intercourse on any particular day, ovulation or otherwise, increases the chance of pregnancy with either sex. This matter is solely in God’s domain except sex selection is done as can happen for some IVF patients.

Stay off alcohol and smoking, reduce stress and if you can, have your babies before the age of 30 years for both men and women. For women, you have a bigger population of eggs which are healthy and for men, the sperm are also healthy and swim as fast as they should.

For more on this topic, please click on the links below:

Daily Health Tips: What Drug Can Help Me Get Pregnant?

Daily Health Tips: Should I Pop Vitamins When I Am Pregnant?

Daily Health tips: Why Can’t I Have A Baby If The Doctors Have Said Nothing Is Wrong With Me?!

Daily Health Tips: Low Sperm Count

Good night, y’all 😀

Q: Dr, please can a hepatitis B patient breastfeed her baby without problem to the baby and what are the food to be taken by the patient.

A: Yes a woman with Hepatitis B can breastfeed her baby. The chances of passing the virus on through breastfeeding are minimal and the few risks that exist are counteracted by the fact that the baby is, ideally, immunized within the first 12 hours of birth. Be sure to take care of the breasts and prevent nipple cracks etc

What foods should a hepatitis patient take? A healthy balanced diet, really. Stay off alcohol though as this causes further damage to the liver. Be sure to drink sufficient amounts of water daily and discuss all drugs you’re taking with your doctor.

For more on hepatitis, please click on the links below:

Daily Health Tips: Do I Require Treatment For Hepatitis B Infection?

Daily Health Tips: Liver Disease

Have a great night, y’all 😀

Q: Dr. good afternoon, please, help me I gave coke to my 4 Months old daughter yesterday, now she just went to toilet now and I discover she has jedi-jedi. Please what drugs should I buy for her?

A: Okay, I know that different people wean their babies with different foods but there are a couple of issues here: first at 4 months, your baby should still be on exclusive breast feeding until she’s 6 months old. Then, when weaning starts, this should ideally be started with cereals. Remember that you should be modeling the right nutrition behavior for your baby now. If you introduce her to a diet of refined sugars now, it may be difficult to get her off them later. Recall that diets like this open her up to obesity and other lifestyle diseases. Caffeine found in some of these drinks can cause headaches, tummy upset, increased heart rate and increased blood pressure, amongst other effects. Having said that, what’s done is done. How to move beyond this?

If your baby is still taking breast milk, please go back to this…hoping that you will still make enough breast milk, if you have already introduced other foods to baby’s diet. As for jedi-jedi, what exactly do you mean as the term is used interchangeably to mean haemorrhoids (pile) and/or dysentery (poop with blood or mucous in it)? If you mean any of this and your baby still has this, please take her to see her paediatrician as soon as possible.

Other useful posts on weaning and caffeine are included with links below:

Daily Health Tips: Can I Start Solids For My Baby By 4 Months?

Daily Health Tips: Coffee, Energy Drinks et al

Daily Health Tips: My 7-Month Old Has Rashes And Still Gets Most Of Her Food From Breast Milk!

Daily Health Tips: I Think My Daughter Is Small For Her Age!

Daily Health Tips: Baby Bottle Tooth Decay

You’ve got one more day to nominate someone special for our spa day treat. So, nominate someone now 🙂

Have awesome night, y’all 😀

Saturday Challenge

Hello y’all, I hope you all had a great week? It’s roughly three months to the end of the year. I hope you’ve had a good run so far. Even if not, you still have roughly 3 months to get your dreams up and running.;)

I addressed a question on stress 2 days ago and so our challenge today will be dedicated to that.

For a chance to win a relaxing spa day for yourself or your nominee, please answer the following questions:

Do you know anyone (including yourself) who has been unduly stressed of recent? Someone going through a particularly rough period at work or at home? Someone who appears not to know how to de – stress and relax? Someone deserving of a makeover?

If you do, send in a nomination with the person’s name and phone number to our inbox or email address, healthylivingwithdrketch@gmail.com. If you’re not nominating yourself, you also have to include your own phone number. You have to include a compelling story as to why you think the person deserves a makeover. The most compelling story will win a relaxing day at one of our partner spas.

Terms and conditions:

Participants must be fans of this page. If you’re not a fan, like our page to qualify.

Once you participate by sending in your nomination to our inbox or email, post a comment here.

The most compelling story about why a nominee needs a makeover wins the prize.

Only one answer per participant will be accepted.

If a participant provides more than one answer, the first answer will be used.

This challenge lapses by 11.59 pm on Tuesday the 7th of October, 2014.

So, what are you waiting for?! Best of luck, guys!

Q: Dr. each time l return from work l look so unreasonably tired. What can I do?

A: I’m sure most people can identify with this. I’m assuming that beyond looking tired, you do feel tired too. That tiredness that appears to be a permanent fixture especially in a city like Lagos, Nigeria as we all attempt to out-run each other in the rat race 😀 In most instances where no specific medical ailment can be found, stress is the biggest culprit…what with multiple bills to pay, traffic, insurgency and terrorism etc

Other causes include:
• Psychological issues: Anxiety and depression
• Physical causes: Being under or overweight
• Lifestyle causes: Excessive alcohol abuse etc

To prevent this,
• Have a regular sleep routine and be sure that you have good sleep habits (no TVs in room, no work before bed time etc) and catch sufficient amounts of sleep daily.

• Drink sufficient amounts of water and eat healthy. 5 small meals comprising of three major meals and 2 snacks are useful, ensuring that your blood sugar level is maintained at an optimal state. Be sure to ensure that your meals have more fruits/veggies, proteins and complex carbs like local rice, oat meal, beans etc

• Exercise and keep your weight within normal levels. Ever wondered the link between exercise and stress? Well, click on this link 😀 https://chatwithdrketch.com/2013/12/29/daily-health-tips-stressful-exercise/

• Reduce your consumption of alcohol or stop all together 🙂

• Deal with your stress more constructively. Know what you can handle..and then handle it. Know what you have no control over and adapt to it or accept it. Just remember the serenity prayer….

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

For more on coping with stress and dealing with fatigue, please click on the links below:

Daily Health Tips: Fun ways of relieving stress!

Daily Health Tips: Stress And Other Matters Arising

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

Have a good night, y’all 😀