Daily Health Tips: Can My HIV Positive Pregnant Friend Have A Baby Without Problems?

Posted on April 11, 2014 by chatwithdrketch

Q: Hello Dr. I have a friend who is pregnant after registering for ANC she find out that she is HIV positive. What can she do?

A: Being pregnant is an amazing experience, HIV or not. In fact, finding out early about the infection helps, so that the virus is not transmitted to the baby. If the mother is already on anti-retroviral drugs (drugs used to treat HIV), then she needs to let her doctor know which ones she’s taking as they may need to be changed or dosage adjusted. If she hasn’t been taking any, then she will be put on some. The whole aim of this is to reduce the load of the virus and also, because some of the drug passes through the placenta, the baby is safer.

The baby is most at risk during 3 points: pregnancy, delivery and breast feeding. Of all these, mother to child transmission poses the least risk. The greatest risk is during delivery as baby is exposed to mother’s blood and body fluids. The risk of this is significantly reduced with an elective (planned) Caesarian Section. Breast feeding is not advocated as the baby may be infected via this route. Formula feeds will have to suffice here.

The risk of mother to child transmission is increased when the mother has other co-existing sexually transmitted infections, vaginal delivery, pre-term birth, HIV infection occurring for the first time during pregnancy etc.

Please advise your friend to register for antenatal (pre-natal) care in a center that has the facility to look after and anticipate the needs of HIV positive pregnant women and their babies.

If she plans to get pregnant again, there are also options even if her husband is also HIV positive. Invitro fertilization, sperm washing to remove infected cells etc are examples of options that the doctor could proffer.

So, all hope is not lost!

Have a great weekend, people 😀

Here’s to a healthier you!

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Have you heard the news about the outbreak of Ebola virus? Whether you are in an area where it’s been reported or not, some knowledge of this, especially prevention, will not go amiss. Here goes!

Ebola virus is usually contacted through contact with infected animals (monkeys, chimpanzees, bats and in some instances, pigs) and subsequently from an infected person to other people through contact with infected body fluids (waste products or blood) and/or sharp objects. This virus causes severe bleeding, failure of organs, death and unfortunately has no known treatment or vaccine for prevention as at today.

Initial symptoms would appear between 5 to 10 days of infection and seem like any other infectious disease with fever, sore throat, headaches, weakness and chills. This eventually worsens to include a lot of symptoms including rashes, cough with chest pain, red eyes, stomach pain and bleeding from mouth, nose, eyes, ears, seizures, coma and eventual death for most people infected.

As noted before, no treatment exists as at now. So, prevention is key for everyone and especially people who are more at risk (people who travel to areas with outbreak, morticians who prepare people that have died from Ebola for burial, people conducting animal research and medical personnel). The focus of prevention is on personal hygiene: Wash your hands and often too, use hand sanitizers and make sure you’ve got handy packs that you carry around. Be sure to also provide same for your children and domestic staff. Avoid contact with infected people and if you’re a mortician, avoid handling the remains of people who have died from Ebola as they are still contagious. Finally, all bush meat lovers will have to leave well alone for now 😀

Keep healthy and keep safe, people 🙂

Have a fabulous day!

Here’s to a healthier you!

Posted on April 10, 2014 by chatwithdrketch | 2 Comments

Daily Health Tips: When Is A Good Time To Resume Sexual Intimacy After Childbirth?

Posted on April 9, 2014 by chatwithdrketch

Q: Please when is the right time for a woman to make love after child birth??

A: Good question 😀 The honest answer is, as soon as you and your spouse feel up to it. Usually, 6 weeks is advocated at which time the woman would have had a post-natal check.  However, there is really no scientific basis for this and the time a woman feels like intimacy could differ from woman to woman. Some women feel ready earlier and some much later. Bear in mind that there are new issues contending for attention here…namely the new baby who requires a lot of attention, the overwhelming emotion of being in charge of a new life especially for new mothers, the sheer exhaustion after looking after the baby’s needs and sleep deprivation, the pain of vaginal suturing, if the woman had a tear, the dryness of the vagina at this time etc. We could go on and on! So, with all these, it may be difficult to feel really sexy…trust me, I know 😀

So, what’s the way forward? New mums, get as much help as you can so that you don’t feel exhausted every night. Also, rest whenever the baby is taking a nap. Perhaps, timing for intimacy can also be re-scheduled to other times…maybe mornings while the baby is still sleeping etc. Then again, you don’t have to wait for full sexual intercourse to be intimate. You can start off with cuddling and then move on to more adventurous things. Lubrication may also be a great idea to help with vaginal dryness. To help restore muscular tone to the vagina, pelvic floor exercise (Kegel exercises) should be started as soon as possible. The exercise mimics the movements we make when we want to stop the flow of urine. Try holding this for about 10 seconds and then doing about 10 repetitions per set. Try about 4 to 6 sets per day and increase this as you feel ready.

Remember birth control even if you’re breastfeeding exclusively. You don’t want to get pregnant while nursing a baby, right? 😀

I hope this helps 😀

Have a great day!

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Daily Health Tips: Still On Health…

Posted on April 8, 2014 by chatwithdrketch

Hello y ‘all, thanks to all of you that wrote about what health means to you. It made for great reading 😀

And guess what, y’all were right. Health is all that and more!

A couple of years back, medics focused on looking at health in a negative way. And so, someone was considered healthy if they weren’t ill/sick. But that’s not all true, right? One could run a complete medical check and nothing is found wrong, but this person is in a really toxic relationship which breaks his/her heart over and over again. That person is not really healthy and it shows. Same goes for someone who works in an environment that has a whole lot drama: people scheming to move ahead and throwing people under the bus in order to achieve that. What about the guy whose opinion counts for nothing…he’s never asked to give an opinion and when he ventures to speak, he’s shut down. Or the lady who smiles at everyone, but deep down inside is so angry with the world for all manner of missed opportunities…the education she never pursued, because she got married, the job she could never aspire for because her husband assured her she wasn’t good enough, the business she could never keep going because the children made amazing demands on her time etc.

Some of you defined, health as a ‘state of physical, mental and social well being and not just the absence of disease’, taking the words right out of the World Health Organization’s mouth 😀 This essentially means that health involves all areas of our lives: physical (the type that can show up on the lab work), social (our feeling of inclusion in any group eg family, workplace etc), emotional (knowing that we love and are loved in return), mental (feeling that we have something to contribute and that our opinions count), occupational (how we react to the pace of work in our work places or how the work environment is structured), environmental (things in our surroundings that can potentially harm us eg malaria-causing mosquitoes breeding in a dirty environment with stopped-up drainage gutters) or even spiritual ( our sense of being at peace with the world). So, if you’re not healthy in any aspect of these, you’re really not healthy as we can’t compartmentalise our lives…no matter how much we try 😀

So, the new focus is encouraging the good stuff: health promotion. And really that’s what the whole concept of wellness addresses. It focuses on providing the tool kit that keeps you in that state of wellness which is what this page, our blog and our show were set up to do. I hope we have contributed to your sense of wellness in the last one year through our tips on eating, hygiene, exercise, disease risk factors and indeed all aspects of health 😀

Let’s keep at it people 😀  There’s a whole lot more where all that came from. 

Here’s to wellness…Make sure you’re sipping from a glass of water 😀

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Daily Health Tips: What Is Health?

Posted on April 7, 2014 by chatwithdrketch

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a great day! Mine was exhausting 😀

Now, today is World Health Day and while thinking of the post for today, it just struck me that perhaps we should turn the tables 😉 Yep, turn the tables! You wonder how?

World Health Organization had cause to change their own definition of health a couple of years ago…because you can’t just box health into a corner and describe it as just ‘one thing’ or ‘the other’ right? 🙂

So, what does health mean to you? I will be waiting to read from all of you. I can’t wait to hear what y’all think 😀

Have a great evening, peeps 🙂

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

Posted on April 6, 2014 by chatwithdrketch

Q: Doctor, please I don’t take alcohol. Both my parents have big tummies. I am of average built but my tummy gives me concern, After watching you a while ago, I wanted to write you so that you tell me what to do.

A: It’s great that you are concerned about this, especially knowing that there is a family history, because genetics can be a factor in the issue of belly fat (central obesity). However, other major factors are really what we eat, how much of it and how much exercise we get.

If you ensure that your plate always has all food groups in it, you’ll be fine. First, focus on portion control. The first practical step in doing this is reduce the size of plate that you ordinarily eat with. Then, ensure that half of this plate is filled with vegetables, a quarter of it with protein and the last quarter with the carbs to be eaten. For carbohydrates, focus on the complex carbohydrates like brown rice, local rice (Abakaliki rice or Ofada rice), sweet potatoes, oatmeal, whole wheat bread, millet etc. For instance, you can have a half a plate filled with vegetables (remember to go extra easy on the oil during preparation), quarter of the plate filled with whole wheat meal and then your protein of choice, preferably fish or poultry. It is important to have more of the vegetables, because these fill you up, absorb loads of fluid and keep you feeling fuller for longer! 😀

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

Daily Health Tips: Are 3 Square Meals Sufficient?

Daily Health Tip: Weight loss (facts and fiction)

You’re also allowed 2-3 snacks daily. Remember to focus on healthy foods e.g. nuts, fruits etc. For more on this, please click on the link below.

Daily Health Tips : Healthy Snacking

Then exercise. I am always asked if people can lost weight without exercise and the answer is yes. I mean, if you went on a starvation diet, you’d lose weight, right? 😀 But it’s not sustainable. First it’s really water weight, you’re getting rid of and you’re not really imbibing the principles of a healthy lifestyle that will help you not only lose weight but keep it off. Current recommendation is for 150 minutes of exercise weekly. This should be broken down into 30 minutes on 5 days of the week or 1 hour for three days. Space these minutes out and ensure that you don’t try to get all of it done in 2 days like some weekend warriors I know 😀 Seriously though, the heart may not be able to withstand that much pressure all at once having been sedentary too long. So, please be guided! 😉

Ageing also plays a role. However, if you start early enough in life to eat right, it may not be too much of a problem later.

If you read my post on ‘The Trio Of Diet, Exercise And Stress’, remember that visceral fat, the type involved in central obesity may not be helped much by abdominal exercises, crunches et al. The right lifestyle is critical. Remember that central obesity pre-disposes one heart diseases, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus etc So, you don’t want to be here if you can do something about it!

Have a great week ahead, fabulous people 😀 XXX

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Daily Health Tips: Should I Stop Taking Folic Acid Because I Have Fibroids In Pregnancy?

Posted on April 5, 2014 by chatwithdrketch

Q: Good Day…..Please I am pregnant and my first scan showed that I have fibroid (8.5cm) I want to know if I should stop taking Folic Acid as I heard that it may make the fibroid become bigger. Please advise me.
Thank you.

A: Fibroids do not feed on folic acid…they feed on hormones which is the reason why they may become bigger in pregnancy and tend to shrink during menopause. Please ensure that you take your folic acid so as to ensure your baby has no neural tube (‘spinal cord’) defects and be sure that your pregnancy is being supervised by an obstetrician.

Have a great night, people 😀

Here’s to a healthier you!

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Daily Health Tips: Can I Serve My 7 Month Old Baby Cocoa Beverages?

Posted on April 4, 2014 by chatwithdrketch

Q: Hello Dr, thanks for all your advice. God bless you. Please ma’am, can I give my 7 month old baby, cocoa beverages to drink? 

A: The answer is a resounding no…for two reasons. 

First, these beverages often times contain traces of nuts and other ingredients that your child may be allergic to. So, it’s not a great idea to ‘challenge’ these allergies until your baby is at least a year old and even then, watch out for any allergic reactions.

Secondly, these drinks also contain some quantity of caffeine, which is a stimulant. You don’t want to be feeding your baby caffeine at this age…especially given that the side effects are more likely to be extremely pronounced in a baby. For a reminder class on the effects of caffeine, please click on the link below.

chatwithdrketch.com/2014/01/17/daily-health-tips-coffee-energy-drinks-et-al/

Have a great weekend, y ‘ all.

Here’s to a healthier you!

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Daily Health Tips: How Do I Cleanse My Kidneys?

Posted on April 3, 2014 by chatwithdrketch

Q: Please I want to know,what should one who has been on antibiotics for long take for cleansing the kidney?
Thank you in anticipated response.

A: Okay, I’m not really sure why you have been on long term antibiotics. Were these prescribed by your doctor or are you just taking these on your own advice? If the latter is the case, please stop. As in my post of yesterday, taking antibiotics unnecessarily may lead to a situation called super-infection where the ‘good’ bacteria are eliminated and then the bad bacteria and other organisms take over and cause infections that may otherwise not have been problems in the body.

If you need more tips on how to keep your kidneys healthy, please click on this link and read more
https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/03/13/daily-health-tips-how-do-i-keep-my-kidneys-healthy/

Now as to cleansing your kidneys, please be careful. When I was in medical school, there was a story of a ‘doctor’ who offered people kidney cleanses. So what did he do? He would admit these people, put in a urinary catheter (a flexible tube that drains urine from the bladder) and give them diuretics (drugs that made people produce a lot of urine). These people would see loads of urine being produced and were assured by this ‘doctor’ that all the impurities in their kidneys were being flushed out in that process. Throughout this period, they were on intravenous fluids…probably to ensure they did not die on admission from dehydration 😐 I believe this fake doctor was eventually caught and tried.

So, the lesson in this is that your kidneys do not really need any fancy work to keep them nice and healthy. Eat healthy, exercise, drink sufficient amounts of water daily, do not abuse drugs and you should be fine. Read the post on keeping your kidneys healthy for more tips.

There is also a lot of talk about detoxification diets which focus on fruit fasts for various periods of time. Now, I love my 3-day detox therapies but note that these are not sustainable ways of losing weight or keeping kidneys cleansed. They make you feel great…probably because you stayed off processed junk for that period of time 😀 but ultimately, your body needs a whole lot more than this to survive. You need a balanced meal of all food groups in the right proportions, otherwise, you can do these fad diets for a while but then when the fall comes, it is catastrophic! 😀 For more on diet:

https://chatwithdrketch.com/2013/12/01/daily-health-tip-the-trio-of-diet-exercise-and-stress/

https://chatwithdrketch.com/2013/11/17/daily-health-tips-foods-to-avoid/

So, visit your doctor. He may want to check out your kidney function and confirm that it’s A-okay. The results will determine what further actions are needed.

Have yourselves an awesome day 😀

Here’s to a healthier you!

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Daily Health Tips: Should I Wash My ‘Intimates’ With Disinfectant?

Posted on April 2, 2014 by chatwithdrketch

Q: Good evening ma’am, how is the family and work generally? God bless u for a continuous good work. Please ma, I have a question regarding cleaning the female private part. I don’t know if it’s okay to wipe with water that has been disinfected , because I feel better when I do, than without a disinfectant. Please advise me ma’am.

A: Hmm, this is a question I’ve been asked often and it does make sense to ask 🙂 You would want to wash your vagina with disinfectant or perhaps antiseptic soap to make sure that you kill off all the germs, right? Wrong!

There are some bacteria that are actually useful in the body. Those found in the vagina, mainly lactobacillus, fall into this group. They produce substances that help to fight the growth of fungi (candida) and other unwanted organisms. So, when you wash with antibacterial soap or disinfected water, you mess with that natural balance in your intimate parts leading to overgrowth of unwanted organisms like candida.

Another similar activity is douching. Vaginal douches usually contain water and vinegar. Others have antiseptics and fragrances in addition. These douches are usually sprayed upwards into the vagina to ‘clean’ it up. Apart from destroying the hard-working bacteria which ‘protect’ the ‘intimates’, it can also lead to irritation of the very delicate vaginal skin.

Other activities that can cause over-growth of the vagina by unwanted organisms are abuse of antibiotics, a weak immune system from disease or stress and the hormonal imbalance that can occur in pregnancy.

So, the feeling better is really all in the psyche. No real work is being done. Truth is, if there is actually an infection, the douche and disinfectant et al are unlikely to be able to deal with them! So, there 😀

So ladies, all you need is…clean hands, soap that is not perfumed (if you can tolerate it) and water; c’est finis!

Have a great evening!

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