Category: Health

By Moses Emorinken, Abuja

Not fewer than 20,000 maternal deaths could be prevented yeary in the country with optimal breastfeeding, the Federal Government has said.

It further stated that breastfeeding also prevents postpartum bleeding in mothers, supports child spacing and lowers the risk of breast and ovarian cancers and early return to pre-pregnancy body weight.

Also, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), in a statement, urged the government to find innovative solutions to protect and promote women’s access to breastfeeding counselling, a critical component of breastfeeding support.

They noted that breastmilk saves children’s lives as it provides antibodies that give babies a healthy boost and protect them against many childhood illnesses.

While researchers continue to test breastmilk from mothers with confirmed or suspected COVID-19,  evidence indicates that it is unlikely that COVID-19 would be transmitted through breastfeeding.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, at a briefing in Abuja to commemorate the World Breastfeeding Day, said Nigeria has, over the years, joined more than 170 countries to commemorate the World Breastfeeding Week, intended to create awareness and generate support for improved breastfeeding practices for good health and well-being outcomes for infants and young children.

“The theme of this year’s celebration is,‘Support Breastfeeding for a Healthier Planet.’ It focuses on the impact of proper infant feeding on the environment, by garnering support for breastfeeding for the health of people and planet. Breastfeeding is naturally environmentally friendly, since it does not draw on any resources or create environmental pollution. In contrast to formula feeding, breast milk is a naturally-renewable, requires no disposal of packaging and its production does not increase our carbon foot print.

“The benefit of breastfeeding to both mother and baby is well documented.  Breastfed babies have stronger immunity, reduced risk of suffering many childhood illnesses and infections. It is also associated with longer-term health benefits including reduced risk of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence. Studies have shown that obesity rates are 15-30 percent lower in breastfed babies compared to formula-fed babies.  The World Health Organization, in a series of Lancet publications on breastfeeding, reports that scaling up breastfeeding practices to almost universal level could prevent an estimated 823 000 annual deaths, or 13·8 percent of all deaths of children younger than 24 months,” Ehanire said.

The government, however, decried the low practice of breastfeeding practices in the country, as only 42 per cent of children are put to breast within 1 hour of birth and the proportion of children 0 to 6 months who are exclusively breastfed is a mere 29 percent. “Breastfeeding also provides health benefits to mothers, by helping to prevent postpartum bleeding, support child spacing, lower the risk of breast and ovarian cancers and earlier return to pre-pregnancy body weight. An estimated 20,000 maternal deaths could be prevented annually if optimal breastfeeding were practiced,” he added.

Despite these benefits, the breastfeeding indices in Nigeria are below optimal. According to the National Demographic and Health Survey 2018, 97 per cent of children are breastfed at one point or the other; but only 42 per cent are put to breast within 1 hour of birth and the proportion of children 0 to six months who are exclusively breastfed is a mere 29 per cent.  The Federal Ministry of Health recommends early initiation of breastfeeding within an hour of birth, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, continued breastfeeding up to two years of age or beyond and introduction of appropriate complementary food as from six months.

As part of measures to increase optimal breastfeeding practices, government has developed the National Social and Behavioural Change Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding, but a major barrier to its proper implementation is the practice by mothers and care givers, on giving water to babies from birth to the age of six months. “To address this problem, we launched the National Zero Water Campaign during the 2019 World Breastfeeding Week celebration, aimed to educate Nigerians on the need to give babies only breast milk only, and no other liquids in the first six months of life. The Campaign is ongoing in several states.

“The National Guidelines on the Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) is currently being reviewed. It encompasses baby friendly services in the hospital, community and workplace; the goal of which is to incorporate programming breastfeeding as an integrated delivery in routine services pertaining to breastfeeding at health facility, community and workplace, and incorporating the revised 10 steps to successful breastfeeding,” he said.

According to UNICEF’s representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, like most emergencies, leaves families with children in an extremely vulnerable position. Given the present lack of evidence that transmission of the virus could occur through breastmilk, we recommend that mothers should be encouraged to initiate and continue to breastfeed their babies while observing good hygiene practices.

“Through strengthened policy provisions and increased investment for breastfeeding, we can ensure that mothers in Nigeria are empowered to breastfeed their babies. Breastfeeding is still the safest during and after the COVID-19 pandemic,” Hawkins said.

Both UNICEF and WHO recommend that babies be fed only breastmilk for their first 6 months, after which they should continue breastfeeding – as well as eating other nutritious and safe foods – until 2 years of age or beyond. Currently, only 29 per cent of Nigerian children between the ages of 0 to 6 months are exclusively breastfed. They explained that breastmilk substitutes such as infant formula, other milk products, and beverages not only contribute negatively to the health and development of the child, but also to environmental degradation and climate change. Breastmilk, on the other hand, is natural, and is the only food a baby needs in the first six months of life.

UNICEF called on relevant agencies to strictly enforce adherence to the National Regulation on the Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions by putting a stop to the unwholesome marketing of breastmilk substitutes. Civil society organisations should also not seek or accept donations of breastmilk substitutes in emergency situations.

It said during the Covid-19 pandemic, availability and increased access to health care workers, including midwives and nurses, to deliver skilled breastfeeding counselling to mothers and families is essential. Also, efforts must be made to increase investment in maternal, infant, and child nutrition interventions at the community level support and to implement policies that support maternity leave for 6 months in the public sector, and an enabling environment for breastfeeding in the private sector. Advocacy for paid paternity leave must also continue to ensure full participation of both parents in the early moments of the child.

 

 

 

By Femi Kusa

 

 

I must have been under six years of age when I learned of a throat problem named Tonsillitis, although not by this name. Some of the regular readers of this column reminded me of the childhood experiences of tonsillitis when they told me last month they had bouts of it. In those childhood days when I had not begun school and it was difficult for me to tell which day of the week was a Saturday and which was a Thursday, for example, I knew that  Saturday was the day of trouble for us children. I could tell that, after morning prayer, my grandmother kept our single room apartment locked for us children to take turns to have our Saturday medicine.

The cries of children in other households could be a sad reminder that another Saturday morning had broken through. For, in Abule-Ijesha, a squalid neighbourhood of Lagos, the Saturday medicine for preventing and treating childhood diseases was one tablespoonful or two of a horrible smelling concoction of herbs in fermented cow urine kept in a fireplace for weeks or months. We were not as wise as today children. Today’s children would throw the bottles away on a Friday evening or ” accidentally” break them. Cow urine as medicine would be a health sin today. It seemed to work in those days. I am describing health life in the late 1950s, when, like today, malaria fever was killing many children and Western medicine was taboo.

Mothers of children stricken with convulsion in the dead of the night would fling their doors open, rush onto the street and scream for help. Their cries brought traffic of medicines to the sick child. That night, in that “compound”, every mother would rouse her children from sleep to drink cow urine as a prophylactic against whatever infection was flying in the air. Many children must have died from this medication. Many must have survived it. It is obvious I am a survivor. In high school, Health Science education enabled me to assume cow urine suppressed convulsion and life-threatening high fever in order to contain infection because it induced vomiting and caused catalytic spasms of the intestine which emitted hot faeces!

Both actions had temperature-lowering effects and salvation from convulsion, which were the therapy goals of the mothers of those days. But the fifth and last child of my mother did not survive it. He was born on August 5, 1959 (61 years ago yesterday). My mother died during his birthing process at the Ikeja General Hospital (now Lagos State University Teaching Hospital – LASUTH) because she could not expel the placenta, and, thus, bled to death! The baby, named (Oluwaremilekun and Oluwafeyiropo) would himself die about one year later from malaria fever and convulsion. That is why, till this day, I find it difficult to be a disciple of urine  Therapy (UT), the so called Water of  Life, despite all the healing properties ascribed to it. In those days, cow urine might have saved many lives from malaria fever and convulsion, as is shown in evidence from survivors such as me. But it might also have caused or triggered many infections such as those which involved the lymphatic system, the human system family to which the tonsils belong.

The Tonsils, like the Adenoids and the Lympth Nodes are important members of this great system. They prevent dangerous substances and germs from entering the body or from continuing their existence in it. The Adenoids exist high up in the throat, behind the nose. When they experience poisons too much for them to handle, Adenoids become inflamed and block the passage of air from the nostrils. In adults and children alike, this may be a cause of snoring. Some children foam in the mouth as a consequence in their sleep. Many have to breathe through the mouth day and night, thereby increasing the workload of the Tonsils which are neighbours of the Adenoids. Such children are likely to experience poor oxygen intake, body pains and learning difficulties.

Some of those Nigerian children develop enlarged Adenoids after inhaling chemical substances in their beddings over a period of time. Nigerians have graduated from the grass to the cotton mattress and now we have the foam mattress. Because foam is made from chemical processes, the producers cover it with cloth to hold back some of the obvious toxins. In the police barracks of the 1950s where I was born, and those of the 1960s were I grew up, European police officers supplied the Nigerian rank and file police men and women with thick blankets to cover their mattresses. It was from there I picked up the thick blanket culture for mattresses. In many Nigerian homes today, only bed linen are spread over foam mattresses. Where these are inadequate to hold back chemicals in the foam mattress, Adenoid inflammation may occur. There are many other possible causes of this condition, no doubt.

 

Lymph Nodes

 

They are like military check points. They are located in the lymphatic system throughout the body. This system transports the lymph in the body just as the blood vessels take the blood around. The lymph, unlike the blood, which is red, is almost clear white. What gives the blood its red colour is the red blood cell. These cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the cells via the lymph and carbon dioxide from the cells to the lungs, again, through the lymph. In the course of circulating blood throughout the body in blood vessels, the near clear-white part separates from the red portion to take white blood cells, nutrients and oxygen to immobile cells of tissues and organs.

This near clear-white nutrient-dense lymph travels in those special channels or vessels. These channels are the lymphatic system. At various points in the lymphatic system, the body stations “military” check points that are called Lympth Nodes. Their job, like those of the Tonsils and Adenoids in the throat is to filter germs, tissue debris, toxins and degenerate tissue such as cancerous tissue from the lymph and get them “detonated”. If the load becomes heavier than they can stand, the Lymph Nodes may get irritated and become inflamed (swollen) to let us know something adverse is going on. They are located in places such as underneath the skin, on either side of the neck, beneath the jaw bone, in the armpits, and on either side of the groin, among other places.

 

The Malam

 

In the days of cow urine medicine, the fear of the Malam walking down the street alone or in a group was the beginning of wisdom for us children. It was possible cow urine poisoned the blood and the “military” check points got the poison arrested and the poisons got the Lymph Nodes inflamed in return. For many children often came down with Tonsillitis or swellings of these nodes in different parts of the body. My sister came down once with swellings in the neck. The Malams were “specialist surgeons for such matters as well as for Tonsillitis. For Tonsillitis, they were invited by parents of a challenged child. They got as many as four agile adults to hold the child down. He or she was sat down.

One adult sat directly behind him or her with both legs locked around the child’s waist. One adult held down one leg while another took care of the hands. The child was made immobile thereby. Then the surgeon, aided by the parents, forced open the child’s mouth, clipped down the tongue with a wooden instrument and proceeded to probe the engorged and drooping tonsils with a curved, long, sharp knife, aimed at surgically removing the tonsils with a deft stroke from their roots or base-line in the throat. As the tonsil sprang out and glided down the mouth of the child he or she,  was warned not to swallow the pus and blood discharge by the tonsil like water from a burst or ruptured water hose. This was a painful experience for the child.  Even more painful was the sterilising process after, which involved stopping the bleeding with freshly-made pepper soup which the patient was forced to lick and drink. This was after the patient would have had mouth rinses with warm saline water. This probably made the nerves contract and stop the bleeding. For many days, the child would feel not only the pains of the surgery, but of muscles in different parts of his or her body which arose from the physical struggle with several adults. Every child who witnessed these events and was lucky to not be the Malam’s patient, lived in fear of seeing him on the street or around the home of his or her parents.

 

Tonsillitis

 

Happily, today, the Tonsillitis patient need have no fear of the Malam. He or she can have the infected tonsils surgically removed by a qualified and competent surgeon and have the bleeding stopped or quietened not by  hot peppers or hot food. I do  not know if we can still hold on to the  belief of our parents of old that the infected, engorged and drooping tonsils must not burst, and that, if it did, its contents of  pus and other  poisons swallowed, would result in death. There is no doubt that a bombardment of the system with toxins from burst, infected tonsils would cause germs and toxin rampages in many parts of the body. But whether this is a terminal condition as was once thought is for specialists in this field to determine.

What is clear is that, today, Tonsillitis, like Adenoids, can be successfully treated with herbal medicines. I caved in to surgery once, in respect of one child, but undertook natural procedures for the Adenoids of others. A reader of this column now resident in New York and I never fail to discuss her child whenever we speak on the telephone. Back home in Nigeria, at the age of six or under, he developed Adenoid problems. His father seriously wanted a quick-fix surgery. But the mother preferred a natural resolution when she learned he may forever lose the immunity defence this tissue was meant to provide if it was removed.

Luckily for the family, the doctor who was seeing the child was not the “hurry-hurry” type. He thought child could outgrow it if he was supported. This support was provided by diet and herbal medicines. Today, he must be over 16 and still no recurrence of Tonsillitis. I have witnessed Tonsillitis cases resolved with herbal medicines. Actually, this is a major question often asked by Tonsillitis-challenged people who, like me, fear surgery. The first step towards a natural cure, in my view, is to appreciate the fact that the tonsils belong to the lymphatic system as well as to the immune system.

So, we need to clean up the lymphatic system, detoxify the Lymph Nodes and support the tonsils to literally vanquish poison in its pantry. In these venture propolis is well recommended. It is a product of the honey bees which they use to paint” their hives. Propolis ensures no germs survive there. That is why Egyptian Pharaohs embalmed with propolis-rich honey hundreds of years ago have not decayed till today! For mouth and throat questions, propolis tablets and syrup may be used. The tablets may be chewed and used to gaggle. I believe the syrup does the job better. Better still, you can use the propolis throat spray.

Golden Seal Root Powder is now as expensive as gold, literally speaking. It can be taken as tea and left on in the mouth as a paste to keep the mouth and throat good company. Women who suffer from vaginosis or candida issues know of its value when it is used as a paste overnight in the secret place. We cannot forget Oregano Oil spray or drops, which has proven a good health ally for COVID-19 look-alike symptoms patients. A medicine of equal worth as the foregoing is the group of plant medicines warehoused in a proprietary product named Amazon Lymph Support. It comes in handy not only when the Lymph Nodes have enlarged, such as those in the armpits during breast cancer escalations, but even when one is not ill, but wish to give the system a helping hand to do its job without stress.

We must remember always that physical, emotional, chemical and environmental stress, among others, impact our systems and health. As I write today, I have just been through with my first Organic Coffee Enema of the month. The second will be done mid-month. I should, indeed, do it every week, to not only detoxify the digestive system but the entire biological system. If about 70 percent of immune capacity is logged down in the intestine, as we have been told it is, we may be unhelpful to our bodies if we do not free some of this capacity for deployment elsewhere, by lending the intestine a helping hand. In www.olufemikusa.com you should find an article titled “The pit toilet inside all of us” and another titled “Death begins slowly” but surely in the intestine. That PIT TOILET is the intestine.

 

Dr. H.V.A Vogal

 

Vogel advises us in his book, The Nature Doctor, that Tonsillitis like sore throat, can cause ear infections, inflammation of the kidneys (nephritis), arthritis and even heart problems, including periditis (irritation and swelling of the membrane which  surrounds the heart). He recommends that the throat be painted with Whey a protein. He suggests also, Pimpernel Root (Pimpinella Saxifraga). He does not rule out lemon juice and calcium supplement in the diet. A remedy often forgotten but which features on his prescription pad is carbbage poultice alternated with mud cabbage poultice arround the neck. The cabbage poultice is widely reported to soak out toxins, reduce or stop inflammation and pain. The leaves are beaten to pulp till they ooze juice and then wrapped around the throat or any swelling part of the body. Being anti-inflamatory, they tone down inflammation or swelling anywhere they are wrapped around. Horseradish Oil in a carrier oil such as Olive Oil is good for throat massage, he suggests as well. If the tonsils have broken open and thrown their poisons into the body, it would be necessary to gently activate the eliminative organs, especially the liver, intestine, skin and kidneys, if permanent damage is to be avoided. This will be in addition to cleansing of the lymphatic system and switching to a diet which provides more minerals and vitamins. Fruits and vegetables, in particular, nettle, yarrow, and baobab are legendary here.

Another helpful combination used by some clinics is Clove Oil in a carrier antibiotic and anti-viral oil such as Black Seed Oil. It is good for gum and teeth challenges even in Gigivitis (swelling of the gums) and nibbling cough as well as for the digestive system. With the tongue, this combination oil may be swirled around in the mouth, allowed to bathe the throat several times and then allowed to gently drain down, sometimes by inclining the head backwards.

In all healing endeavours, we can never exhaust the treasure trove of mother nature. So I would like to mention only one more possible healing agent in this condition. That is Tocotrienol, a powerful form of Vitamin E which is well represented in palm fruit. Please recall that palm oil or red oil, as we call it in Nigeria, comes from palm fruit, and that the unadulterated and unprocess palm oil is an anti-poison in our culture. As a protection against COVID-19, I have become passionate not only about palm fruit derived bangs soup. I boil and eat palm fruit in place of meat in most meals, including corn pap nowadays. When fish bone picks my gums or I tend to over floss the dentisture, I tend to develop gum boils and toothache which could take some time to contain. Two weeks ago, I had an encounter with such gum boil and toothache. But to my surprise, the boil and the ache were gone the morning after the day they came up. With dinner the previous night, I had eaten about twelve palm fruits. My gum boils and the aches they cause have never disappeared so fast.

The long and short of it is that our forebears got it all right from experience that Tonsillitis may kill, even if they did not get the solution as accurately as we do today in alternative medicine.

 

By Adekunle Yusuf

 

As part of efforts to boost the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, O-Care Medical Face Mask has begun daily production of face masks in Nigeria.

This, the company said, would help the fight to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country. Speaking in Lagos during the commissioning of O-Care Medical Face Mask factory, the Managing Director of Transgreen Nigeria Limited, Cyprian Orakpo, said that since the world is yet to find a preventative vaccine or curative drugs to arrest Covid-19 pandemic, face masks and other medical devices like gloves, PPE, ventilators have suddenly become national security products.

He noted that many nations banned their exports to other nations as they didn’t have the capacity to meet their local needs.

This resulted in acute scarcity in many countries, including Nigeria, which has made the prices of these highly needed products to skyrocket. “This time around, Transgreen Nigeria Limited, maker of O-Care Face Mask, has risen up to the occasion to fill this voids and contribute her quota as the first indigenous company to produce local medical face mask. This factory is primed to produce up to 240,000 medical face masks daily.

“O-Care 3-ply medical face mask offers protection against dust, pollen, bacteria and all known viruses with breathable comfort and low respiratory resistance. This product is durable and manufactured to WHO standards.

As an organisation, we believe that by making affordable medical face mask available and accessible to all, we are helping Nigerians and indeed Africans to live and work freely, learn, and play, create and work, doing the wonderful things that keep humanity moving forward during these trying times,” Orakpo said.

While speaking, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu pledged the state government’s support towards the company’s success by making the first order of 250,000 medical face masks. “If Covid-19 is going to be with us for a while then, we need to think of how to domesticate some of the preventive measures of which O-Care Medical Face Mask from Transgreen Nigeria Limited is taking a bold step as the first indigenous company to produce medical face mask and we are going to support them.

“We are going to support this company because this is a strategic production line that is important to us in our existence as human beings; we are going to be supporting you in area of procurement by making the first order of 250,000 medical face masks on behalf of people of Lagos State,” he said.

By Adekunle Yusuf

 

In line with its determination to raise awareness and consciousness about Nigeria’s health care workers and practitioners, the Mahuemolen Aduke Odibo Foundation (MAOF) has said it will bridge the gap between law and medicine by making Nigerian patients aware of their rights and duties as enshrined in our laws.

This, according to MAOF, is aimed at reducing medical malpractices and negligence. It will also assist practitioners live up to their responsibilities in order to avert potential lawsuits emanating from negligence. This was the fallout of the official launch of the foundation in Lagos.

The founder, Barr (Mrs.) Cecilia Odibo, said she decided to put the foundation together – alongside other trustees – after the tragic and painful death of her daughter, Miss Mahuemolen Aduke Odibo, then a final year law undergraduate at the University of Lagos on August 10, 2017.

Mahuemolen died as a result of incompetence in the administration of oxygen, which eventually led to respiratory failure, a condition that was further complicated by the drip stripe connecting hydrating water/fluid flow to her lungs instead of her vein.

An autopsy conducted after her death revealed respiratory failure, severe pulmonary oedema and sickle cell haemoglobinopathy (clinical) as secondary cause of death. It was revealed that the first two causes were factors that could have been effectively managed in the hospital but for lack of competence on the part of the medical professionals.

Her pains notwithstanding, Mrs. Odibo resolved to immortalise her daughter, a victim of medical negligence and to ensure that she raises awareness about avoidable and negligent deaths in hospitals and to encourage other parents who maybe facing similar challenges. “I resolved in my heart to put the painful death of my daughter behind me and to champion the cause to ensure that our medical workers, practitioners and professional are diligent while handling patients,” she said.

Apart from raising awareness and consciousness about avoidable deaths, Mrs. Odibo stressed that the foundation will also advocate principles that apply to the areas of diagnostics and treatment in which difficulties most frequently arises and to equally assist patients in public hospitals, especially those suffering from sickle cell anaemia.

This is in addition to ensuring that patients have the right to know the type of prescriptions being administered on them and the implication on their health. It also aims to ensure that medical practitioners are transparent and accountable to their patients always.

Furthermore, the foundation is also advocating for improved capacity among young medical practitioners and to liaise and cooperate with the government and other organisations with similar objectives in furtherance of achieving the foundation’s aims and objectives.

In carrying out these functions, it would also accept donations that are specifically consistent with its aims and objectives.

Since there have been numerous reports about avoidable deaths as a result of medical and professional negligence, Mrs. Odibo said she is ready to provide psychological and medicolegal support to people confused when such incidents occur, especially in the area of whether to allow for an autopsy for their dead relatives.

“People believe an autopsy opens fresh pains and agony, however this is false, an autopsy provides further insight and is never a waste of resources, it reveals what the mind cannot comprehend and settles any form of assumptions.”

FEMI KUSA

 

LITERALLY speaking, the weather has been under the weather for about one or two weeks in many parts of Nigeria.

Rainfall has gone on a short holiday, giving way to gentle, cold wind in some places before the seasonal AUGUST break. In Southwestern Nigeria, this is the season senior citizens are said to leave the flesh in large numbers.

So, it is the time young ones pay serious attention to the elderly. Do not be surprised if you find more women tie scarves which cover their ears.

It is their own way of keeping out the cold. As I write, about mid-night this Sunday (July 19, 2020), Better Effiong, the 13-year-old  orphan girl I am a guardian to, went to bed wearing socks and two gowns.

In addition, she wrapped herself with a blanket in such a manner you’d think she is an Eyptian  Mummie!

Surprisingly, she carries an extra padding of fat all around her which should burn to keep her warm against the cold. It is possible she has far more white fat cells than the brown.

The white doesn’t burn well and fast, even under stimulation from fat burning herbs. This is probably a reason some fat persons don’t “come down”, despite efforts to shed excess fat load.

On the other hand, brown fat cells burns fast and well on their own, even without stimulation or provocation. That means they burn to release energy even when you do not ask them to, through the use of herbs.

People who have a lot of them are usually slim or thin, and are warm or hot almost all day. In these days of coronavirus overstatements, they may be mistaken for coronavirus infected persons.

But they may not be, and often outlive the fat. Such people may eat the world without any evidence of it in their body mass!

In this cold season, there is a tendency to eat more. I have found myself rounding off on three square meals, except on days I undertake organic coffee enemas to clean up the liver and the digestive tract, and I deliberately spike breakfast to give myself a break from food.

The reason for the “greed” may be the need for more energy from food to keep the body warm.

 

Red hot Pepper

There is something I do not toy with during cold season, such as this and the harmattan, which follows the winding down of rainfall. It is RED HOT PEPPER.

In my flower beds, I grow some of them. I may sound bizarre if I say I pick some fresh, wash them in saline or Vinegar water and dice them directly into corn pap.

My favourite among them is CAYENNE or Cameroun pepper. Where I do not have ripened cayenne, I use the proprietary blend which can offer me 100,000 heat units per capsule.

This appears even hotter and more warming than the vine-ripened cayenne. I prefer corn pap for dinner, on a cautionary note.

It is light and should digest easily. But I recognise it is a simple carbohydrate with a high glycemic index because it has lost much of its fiber from the way we process the corn in Nigeria.

I know it may spike blood sugar in the morning as the sugar is packed up in the blood all night while all physical activities to burn it up are at low ebb.

So, what preventive measures do I take? I add some sugar burners which, incidentally, are fiber endowed. My favourite is ORANGE PEEL POWDER, which comes from the green peel of the orange.

This citrus peel is a friend of diabetics. It cuts high blood cholesterol levels as well, tackles hypertension, histamine related ailments, such as cough and asthma and is a powerful natural anti-histamine.

In addition, I may complement orange peel with INDIAN GOOSEBERRY. Another name for it is AMALAKI or AMLA.

This powder is good for many purposes, including the lowering of intra-ocular pressure in glaucoma. It has Vitamin A for clear vision and immune boosting, and other purposes.

While Cayenne helps to keep the body warm against the cold night, CBD capsules help me cruise over the day-time cold weather.

I noticed the effects of a 200gm capsule in about six hours, warming and energising the body, calming the  nerves and steadying brain performance.

I suggest it be tried along with Magnesium and Gotu Kola by people who have attention deficit or who are hyperactive.

 

 Ubiquinol

This is another wonderful energiser. It is the more bio-active version of Co- enzyme Q10(CoQ10). Every human cell contains ubiquinol.

Inside every cell, there are “energy factories” called mitochondria. It is inside the mitochondria that energy is produced.

The more the mitochondria in a cell, the more its energy output.

The number of mitochondria is related to the quantum of ubiquinol in the cell. Thus, the energy output of the cell depends somewhat on the value of ubiquinol in the cell.

The heart has the largest stockpile of ubiquinol in the body for good reason. It works non-stop from the womb to physical death and requires a large amount of energy to perform its tasking job.

Many heart diseases have been linked to a deficiency of ubiquinol. Accordingly, it is advisable to supplement the diet of old or sick and weak people with obiquinol.

Dr. Carl Folkers, the father of CoQ10 research, carried out a land mark experiment in which large dosage of CoQ10, which was believed to be the single nutritional factor that helped a majority of terminally ill breast cancer patients to energise their breasts and nutritionally cure their cancers.

 

Cold legs & feet

If you watch old people at this time, they are not only wearing cardigans or sweaters but socks as well. They are especially cold in the legs and feet.

This may be because the tiny blood capillaries which bring circulation to the surface area have collapsed or had become blocked by all manner of substances which do not dissolve in the blood stream.

Cayenne and other peppers may help breakdown these barriers to blood flow and quicken the heartbeat.

Vitamins B6, B12 and Folic acid can also help if the blockage is from HOMOCYSTEINE, a greasy byproduct of the metabolism of an important amino  acid.

 

Urine

We tend to urinate more this season. This is because the cold atmosphere causes the body to constrict, rather than expand blood vessels near the skin.

Their expansion brings more blood to the skin surface, so that some heat can be lost through perspiration. Perspiration or sweating takes away some toxins as well.

In the constriction of the blood vessels, heat is conserved, there is less perspiration and the kidneys are called upon to eliminate more waste through urination which becomes more frequent.

Men who are challenged with the prostate gland should not let be lured to sleep by this understanding of how the body responds to cold weather.

They should see their doctors and run tests, if they experience urine dribbling, scanty flow or retention.

As the kidneys tend to work more in a season such as this, they should be given all the support they need to prevent overworking them and to protect against the toxins they are to filter out of the blood stream.

So, it is important to drink more water. I monitor my need for water not only by the mechanism of the dry mouth warning system.

And that is because in some people, this mechanism no longer works or works sub-optimally. Rather, I keep a marked white table glass in the bathroom and catch my urine in it.

Every member of the household is informed about the mark so that they do not one day mistakenly mix it up with glasses for drinking water.

The body speaks to us their owners in various ways – through the colour, weight, volume and the urine. Watch your urine carefully.

If it bubbles and the bubbles break up so soon after you finish, there may be no trouble coming up. But if there is foam, which lingers on, the kidneys may have some trouble and be unable to keep a certain protein the blood stream.

Laboratory tests may determine that it is this protein in the urine, rather than in the blood stream that is causing the foam. In other cases the foam may be cause by infection.

If the colour is deep, the kidneys may be heading for trouble and more water intake may help them. Deep colour signifies a concentration of waste and toxins, none the least of which is urea normally downgrades to uric acid in urine.

It may well happen sometimes that the enzyme, URICASE, which is required to do this is not doing the job well for whatever reason, including an insufficiency of it.

It may also be because the kidneys are getting weaker and passing out, or because there is a need for dilution through more water intake.

When half a glass of urine is heavier in the hand than a full glass, it may be time to see the Urologist. Sometimes, ants may visit the urine in the glass.

This may tell us blood sugar is rising and that it is time to add sugar burners such as orange peel, Chanka piedra or Karela, among others, to the diet.

Sometimes, pure salt, such as sodium, accumulates at the bottom of the glass. This may be a good or bad event. If we have been on a diet overloaded with potassium, sodium will be flushed out of the body.

This may be a bad event if sodium levels in the blood fall too low because salt is required for nerve action and other functions.

Low levels of sodium may disturb the sodium-potassium pump, which drives nutrients into the cells and pumps waste and poison out of them.

A deficiency of sodium may also be why some people do not have restful night sleep because the nerves are not calm.

Dr. F. Batmanghelidy got around insomnia with some of his patients by encouraging them to drink some water and then rub a pinch of table salt on their tongues (these days, sea salt or complete salt is in vogue).

 

Kidney herbs

In this season, as always, we can enjoy our kidneys more if we support them with herbs. They are the filters of our blood, to rid us of poisons.

If we regularly clean the fuel filters of our motor vehicles to protect the engine from unwanted materials, what about our bodies which should be more valuable to us?

Mother Nature gives us many kidney cleansing herbs. Maize is in season now. Its filaments, also called CORN SILK, are good for even urinary tract infections (UTIs),when they are dry.

In the wet form, they may purgative. Dandelion, a very good natural diuretic, is useful for the liver as well.

The beauty of this herb is that, unlike chemical-infused diuretics, which leach potassium from the body, causing potassium deficiency symptoms such as lethargy, sore muscles, uterine fibroids, cancer and other growths, dandelion leaves and root bring Potassium into the body.

 

Marsh Mallow Root

Marsh mallow root is a demulcent. It is soothing. It stimulates the mucus membrane lining. That is why it is useful in ulcers.

But asthamtic should used it under the supervision of a healthcare provider because it can spur more mucus production than it saves in the air pipes.

 

Ginger

Ginger is anti-inflammatory and is valuable where irritation induces such tendencies. So are cucumin, CBD oil or capsule and Jobelyn.

Many natural care givers add herbs, such as onion and garlic, turmeric, golden rod, Juniper and cranberry. Everyone familiar with the ALOE BERRY NECTAR of Forever Living Products (FLP) would easily appreciate cranberry for its conquering powers over urinary tract infection (UTIs). Aloe vera is another plant we should not leave out.

When the kidneys are weak and fluid begins to accumulate all over the body as in dropsy, the RED KIDNEY BEAN POD may be a great choice.

Unfortunately, this bean is no longer widely cultivated in Nigeria, and proprietary formulas or blends of it  are scarce in the country at a time the number of severe kidney challenges is growing.

I cannot forget CILANTRO. That sounds esoteric. What if we call it by its other name, CORRIANDER? It used to be a famous vegetable in Yoruba cuisine.

Then, its local name was EBOLO ( r:d:d). Today, the average Yoruba woman knows little or nothing about it because her mother never cooked it.

And she never did either, because she found the smell and probably the taste, offensive. Yet this is a great kidney and urinary tract cleanser and healer.

We now have to import the powder, capsule and even tinctures, when we have  more land than we need to  grow it.

Can we forget ASPARAGUS as well?

No, we cannot. It has been used with great effect in the treatment of cancer in the urological system. Many of these herbs are warehoused in proprietary formulas such as Bell Lifestyle’s KIDNEY CLEANSE and FUNCTION TEA.

 

Cayenne

 

As I stated earlier, I combine Cayenne and CBD capsules to offset the cold weather. Cayenne stimulates metabolism and thermogenesis.  Capsaicin, its active ingredient, blocks expressions of pain by the nervous system, muscles and joints.

By inducing thermogenesis and fat burning, Cayenne may be a weight manager. By straightening up the nervous system, it can reduce or stop itching. Inflammation may retreat before cayenne because it is anti-inflammatory. That should be good news for asthmatics and pain sufferers.

Cold and congestion cannot stand before heat any more than ice in the sun. One capsules of standardised capsaicin in cayenne capsule should produce about 100,000 heat units, almost enough to keep the blood flowing freely for one day.

The generated heat breaks down coagulations in red blood cells. Cayenne is probably able to achieve these and other goals because it’s a powerhouse of antioxidants, which include… Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Beta carotene, Choline (an important nerve nutrient), Zeazanthin and Cryptoxanthin.

Finally, I see a relationship between this season of cold and a bumper harvest of peppers in farms and in the delivery to the food markets.

Isn’t Mother Nature wonderful?  And for Better Effiong who woke up this Monday morning July 20, 2020 as I conclude this article, asking me why the weather is so cold when we are not in the harmattan season, I replied: ONE CAYENNE CAPSULE OR RAW PEPPER EVERY DAY KEEPS THE COLD AT BAY.

 

 

By Adekunle Yusuf

 

Award winning actor and lawmaker, Desmond Elliot, has partnered a crowdfunding platform, Giving.ng, in supporting health workers across the country.

Desmond, who is also a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, shared a video on his Instagram page, stating that there is a need for those taking care of the sick to also be taken care of.

Giving.ng announced a campaign to support health workers who are on the front-line of the coronavirus pandemic a few weeks ago.

The fund was set up to help take care of their hazard allowances as many of them in Nigeria earn just N5,000 (about $14) monthly.

The fund pays them a minimum of N100,000 monthly and is governed by a diverse and multi-sectoral board led by Dr. Olaokun Soyinka, a leading public health practitioner.

According to Olapeju Ibekwe, the Project Manager of Giving.ng, cases of infected Nigerians continue to rise and the public is advised to practise social distancing, while health workers have no choice but to go daily to take care of the sick.

Read Also: LASUTH holds first virtual meeting on Covid-19

 

“Some of them have not hugged their wives and children in the past three months just to protect their family from being infected.

They definitely need our support. We are proud to partner with notable Nigerians like Desmond Elliot at this critical time for the benefit of frontline workers fighting the COVID-19 scourge.  It is inspiring to know that there are people out there that still care.

“We are grateful for the partnership and look forward to more public figures standing up to be counted at this time.”

We also want to use this opportunity to call on Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora, to step up and show their support by donating towards the welfare of our local frontline health workers. In the words of James Keller, ‘a candle loses nothing by lighting another candle,’” she said.

By Kofoworola Belo-Osagie

 

A group, CovidNigeriaMedics (CNM), comprising health workers home and abroad, has distributed over 10,000 face shields to hospitals in various parts of the country badly hit by the coronavirus disease.

The group began raising funds for the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) in March to protect health workers who were getting infected because they lacked PPE.

The face shields were presented to the state chapters of the Nigerian Medical Association, National Association for Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, among others, for distribution to health workers in the frontlines of the pandemic.

In a statement by Dr. Ona Utuama on behalf of steering committee of CovidNigeriaMedics, the group expressed concern that the number of COVID-19 cases jumped by about 23,000 within a 55-day period. It promised to continue to provide PPE to protect health workers.

“On May 5, 2020, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had reported 2,950 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria.

On this same day, CovidNigeriaMedics’ (CNM) first batch of locally-made 1,000 face shields was delivered to doctors and nurses in hard-hit Kano State.

Almost 55 days later, on June 30, 2020, the total number of cases in the country increased to a whopping 25,694.

“CovidNigeriaMedics, a group of concerned and committed Nigerian health workers at home and in the Diaspora, has remained relentless in volunteering time and resources to curb the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria through the provision of PPEs.

“Being frontline workers, they understand the gravity of this 10-fold increase, as we and our colleagues are at risk of COVID-19 while providing care.

Read Also: Covid-19 vaccine trials show promising results

 

To this end, we have donated 10,000 face shields across the nation to the 36 states with pending deliveries to Ebonyi, Niger, Delta, Enugu, Benue, Abia, Kogi.

As long as COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on Nigerians and health workers, we will continue to put into practice our slogan ‘Together we stand with health workers.”

The group also plans to provide face shields and masks to health and other frontline workers. It called on organisations and members of the public to support the project with funds.

“As we wrap up our first round of distribution to all the states and focus our attention to the 21 hardest hit local government areas (LGAs), we call on corporate organisations and individuals to join us in safeguarding our health workers and workforce from COVID-19.

As the lockdown is being eased nationwide, the country’s medical and public health response must be fortified to prevent a further increase in the number of infected health workers recently stated by NCDC to be 812.

We hope that our increase in production/donation will help to alleviate health workers anxieties associated with limited PPEs,’’ he said.