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A recent survey found that about 25% of adults over age 50 take a supplement to improve their brain health with the promise of enhanced memory and sharper attention and focus.
The problem? There’s no solid proof any of them work.’
Want to know more? Read!
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/dont-buy-into-brain-health-supplements
Q: Please Doctor, l have a problem about my breast in bring milk but I am not pregnant. Please help me
A: Some women who are not pregnant may have milky fluid come out of their breasts when they are not breastfeeding or even in women who have never been pregnant. This is called galactorrhea (pronounced gulactoria). This is not a disease on its own but a symptom of a problem. The hormone, prolactin which is responsible for lactation in nursing mothers, is usually produced in these cases.
This milky fluid can be expressed by pressing or it can spontaneously come out on its own. It can affect one or both breasts and usually there are no blood stains involved.
Sometimes, the cause of this discharge may not be known but some causes could be some medications, some drugs like cocaine, spinal cord injuries, some birth control pills, stress and…
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Q: Good evening ma’am. Please my question is that my mum has been going to toilet and the poo will be coming without control, since two months ago. Is it because she’s diabetic and please is it treatable?
A: Hello there! Thanks for writing in. Your question sounds like one I had responded to some years back and I have re-posted it here. It also answers your questions.
Q: Why is it that diabetics sweat a lot?
A: Everyone sweats when they have exerted themselves like after exercise, staying out on a hot day, staying in a poorly ventilated room or even when anxious. However, sweating in a cool room with no source of anxiety may mean that things are not A-okay. This is usually typified by night sweats which are not related to sleeping in a stuffy room.
Do diabetics sweat more than others? Yes and I’ll tell you why. The high sugar level in Diabetes is thought to affect nerve function in several different ways. One of the ways is by affecting the nerves that control involuntary body functions (Diabetic Autonomic Neuropathy) like sweating, urinating, sexual arousal etc. This can lead to increased or reduced activities of the organs involved. For instance:
• If it affects the intestines, people experience diarrhoea or constipation.
• If it affects the stomach, it can limit the ability of food to move through the digestive system causing bloating and vomiting
• If it affects the nerves that control erection when there is sexual arousal, it can lead to erectile dysfunction. However, the sexual desire is unaffected.
• It can cause paralysis of the bladder such that the usual impulse to urinate when the bladder is full is lost. This leads to urine being stored for long periods in the bladder causing Urinary Tract Infections.
• It can even blunt people’s normal response to low blood sugar such that they no longer feel the warning signs and can’t take preventive measures.
• Diabetics, still as a result of nerve damage, either sweat a lot or don’t even sweat when hot.
So, if you are diabetic or know anyone who is, blood sugar control is very key.
I hope this helps!
Q: Hello Dr. Ketch, I need your help. My baby is 11 months old, He refuses to eat. I’ve been trying different foods but no luck. He only enjoys breastfeeding and tap water. I thought it might be “Teething “but clearly I think it’s not, because some teeth have already came out I’m stressed. His weight is constant – it doesn’t change!! I know You can help us, My Adorable Doctor.
A: Hello there! Thanks for writing in. Although your baby is already 11 months, I’ll start the discourse from the time weaning starts – six months.
From six months, baby is ready to be introduced to some other food than just breast milk and water. For a long time, the standard teaching had been to go for rice cereal as the first add-on meal because it is bland and babies tolerate this well. Other studies question this wisdom now and suggest that foods like meats with lots of essential nutrients like iron may be a good place to start. What should you do? You can boil beef/chicken very soft and blend it up for baby. If baby tolerates this, then by the next week, you could try adding some rice cereal. Try not to introduce more than one food per week so that you have time to study how your baby adapts to it and of course, look out for/isolate food allergy. And, to start off, only one meal of the complementary feed should be given daily. The rest should be the usual…breast milk 😀 This will, of course, as baby tolerates.
Generally, foods to start off weaning should be just slightly thicker than milk and so, if it retains its shape on a spoon, it may be too thick.
From 9 months, baby can be allowed to start experimenting with
regular family meals…minus the spices, of course 😀
From one year of age, you can add other regular cereals and it’s also okay to
introduce cow milk at this time. Full cream cow milk is advocated at this time
for proper brain development. Thereafter, please switch to skimmed/1%/2% milk
as full cream milk has a lot of saturated fat which may contribute to poor
heart health. Grains, green leafy vegetables, cow milk, honey, whole eggs can
generally be introduced after the baby turns 1 year old.
Generally, other weaning foods that can be introduced include:
Boiled egg yolk (egg whites contain substances that baby may react to), sweet
potatoes, fish, chicken, beef, fruits like banana, avocados, boiled beans (with
skin removed if possible etc
Simple recipes include, blend some chicken or beef with the stock or mash a
banana and add to baby’s cereal.
Our local cereals can also be used and fortified with some breast milk or formula.
As baby tolerates these meals, you can get a little more adventurous.
Boiled carrots mashed with some coconut oil or a little yoghurt with mashed banana may not go amiss too.
An example of a recipe I make for my children is boil potatoes in a pot and place a stainless plate on top of the pot. Add your egg yolk and a drop Olive oil and when the yolk is cooked and potatoes soft, mash all together and feed baby.
Now I know we are all very busy, but weaning is no easy task and so we must commit to trying as much as to prepare these meals ourselves. Packaged meals usually contain additives that may trigger problems/allergies etc in the baby. Hygiene is also critical!
All the best and whenever in doubt, consult your baby’s doctor.
Q: How can sinusitis be managed?
A: Sinusitis is an inflammation of the sinuses (air cavities) that line the nose. When these air cavities (which are supposed to be filled by air) become filled with fluid as a result of blockage, bacteria, fungi and viruses can thrive in this environment and cause infection. The blockage interferes with mucous drainage and leads to stuffy nose with patients typically breathing through their mouths. The symptoms of acute and chronic sinusitis are almost the same with the key difference that in the former symptoms are temporary and usually associated with a cold while the latter lasts at least 12 weeks. Several episodes of acute sinusitis may ultimately lead to chronic sinusitis. Pus-like nasal discharge, facial pain and persistence of these and other symptoms like ear pain, cough, sore throat, bad breath, reduced sense of smell and taste etc. for up to 12 weeks is suggestive of chronic sinusitis.
Self-help options include:
Ø Drinking a lot of water
Ø Using saline sprays instead of the nasal decongestants, if you’ve been indulging in this
Ø Using a humidifier which loosens the mucous. Turning on the hot water shower and inhaling the steam is another great idea.
Ø Avoiding irritants of the nose like smoke
Your doctor could also recommend:
I hope this helps 🙂
‘ You may have good intentions to limit your portions, but what happens when your appetite or cravings kick in?’
Read! https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/5-ways-to-outwit-your-appetite
Q: Can I be cured naturally if I have cervical lesion?
A: Hello! Thanks for writing in.
I assume you mean precancerous cervical lesions. As the name implies, this is not a cancer but indicates an abnormality in the cells of the cervix that could, ultimately, become a full-blown cancer.
Common types of precancerous cervical lesions are:
Atypical squamous cells: This refers to abnormalities in cells of the cervix, referred to as squamous cells. Squamous cells are thin, flat cells that resemble fish scales. They are found in the tissue that forms the surface of the skin, lining of hollow organs in the body, and lining of respiratory and digestive tracts. Atypical squamous cells could be due to Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), which is a common sexually transmitted infection that is spread through sexual, skin-to-skin contact. There is a vaccine to prevent this cancer now. Please ask your doctor where…
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As we get to the last quarter of the year and people start to panic about what they have achieved and what they haven’t, this post reminds you to focus on those goals but not to let stress get the better of you. Have a great week ahead!
This post is about about our 9 to 5 jobs…and the odd jobs in between, the rat race and the environments in which we stay to slug it out in the race…aspects of our occupational health touched on by Dolly Parton in her song! One of my facilitators in my MBA days, asked the question,’ If you win the race, do you leave the rat race?’ I’d love an answer to that, if you’ve got one.
Most of our workplaces these days are high pressure environments, what with deadlines, targets, deliverables, KPIs and all those fancy sounding words that essentially act as proverbial ‘kicks in the butts’ (forgive my French) to get busy and achieve more. Do I have a quarrel with any of these? Not necessarily…the world we live in has changed and the truth is that to out-smart the competition or even create a ‘first-in-class’ situation, ‘it don’t…
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Q: Hello Doc What causes the abdominal pains and how can someone prevent it. I have been experiencing pains more especially left abdominal for some couple of years…and also there is something (meat like/sore) growing around my Anus thought it will fade but nothing is happening and sometimes it hurts a lot after pooing. What’s the right procedure??
A: There are different causes of abdominal pain and constipation, which could lead to the fleshy thing coming out of your anus is one. Other causes of left sided abdominal pain include Celiac disease (a situation in which one cannot digest gluten –the protein in wheat), gas/bloating (y’all know what that means), lactose intolerance (a situation where people have problems tolerating milk), indigestion etc
The fleshy thing you refer to sounds remarkably like piles. 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)
As quick next steps, please go visit your doctor for proper examination and diagnosis.
For tips on constipation, please click on this link
Daily Health Tips: Difficulty With Passing Stool
Have a great evening 😀
Q: Hello Dr kindly assist. I’m very worried about my digestive system. I drink water everyday but whenever I go to the toilet I’m always constipated. What could the problem?
A: Constipation occurs when faeces passes too slowly down the digestive tract causing the stool to become hard and brittle. It leads to a situation where a person has less than 3 bowel movements per week. The classic symptoms are straining to pass stool, having the feeling of incomplete emptying after a poo and sometimes having to press down on your abdomen to help emptying. Sometimes, constipated people also insert a finger into their rectum to help the process along. Constipation becomes chronic when it persists for weeks on end.
Constipation may be due to blockages in the rectum, diseases like Diabetes Mellitus etc. However, they could be due to lifestyle issues like not drinking enough water, not eating enough fibre in our diets and being sedentary. Being a woman and getting older also pre-disposes one to more episodes of constipation.
Prevention is focused on ensuring that you have enough fibre in your diet (fruits, vegetables, whole grain), getting at least 30 minutes of exercise daily and drinking at least 8 glasses of water daily. When you have the urge to poo, try not to delay it for too long. Go and try to take your time to do your business! 😀
All the best!
chatwithketch 