The Nation Newspaper

Category: Mind & Body

  • Reading for stress relief

    Reading for stress relief

    It is a proven fact that reading can help reduce stress. Many of us take this simple act for granted, because we have so much “required” reading in our daily lives-the newspaper, traffic signs, emails, and bills. But how often do we read for pleasure?

    Reading can be a wonderful (and healthy) escape from the stress of everyday life. Simply by opening a book, you allow yourself to be invited into a literary world that distracts you from your daily stressors. Reading can even relax your body by lowering your heart rate and easing the tension in your muscles. A 2009 study at the University of Sussex found that reading can reduce stress by up to 68%. It works better and faster than other relaxation methods, such as listening to music or drinking a hot cup of tea. This is because your mind is invited into a literary world that is free from the stressors that plague your daily life.

    Find a book or magazine that piques your interest – a romantic paperback, gardening magazine, or even a cookbook. Set aside 30 minutes to read every day in a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted. Here are some tips to help you get started:

    * The book you choose doesn’t have to be on any “best-seller” list. The important thing is that the subject matter has captured your interest and will provide a space for your mind to relax in every day.

  • Five ways to have a more meaningful life

    If someone asked you whether you wanted your life to be meaningful or happy, chances are you’d say “both.” A recent study, published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, takes an interesting look at whether or not that’s truly possible. Researchers analysed 397 adults over a month-long period, using self-assessment questionnaires to determine whether people thought their lives were happy or meaningful. They found that while the two states aren’t synonymous, they’re not mutually exclusive either. A rich life, ultimately, seems to need healthy doses of both short-term happiness and lasting substance. To get you started, here are five ways to make your life more meaningful.

    1. Get connected

    Having a busy social life with lots of friends may help keep you happy, but it’s your deeper relationships (family, close friends) that will truly add meaning to your life, according to the researchers. Spending time with your close ties can sometimes be toughthey force you to focus on big issues, not just small talk but the rewards are worth it.

    2. Don’t shy away from stress

    The things that add the most meaning to your life high-pressure job, raising kids, caring for a loved one are often the same things that add the most stress to your day-to-day existence. But don’t assume that taking the easy road is the better option. “Often those biggest challenges in life (those that cause stress in the short term) lead to the biggest gains in the long run,” says Jennifer Aaker, Ph.D., a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, and one of the authors of the study.

    3. Think about the past, present, and future

    According to the findings of this recent study, happiness is something that’s experienced mainly in the here and now. “Meaning, on the other hand, seems to come from assembling past, present, and future into some kind of coherent story,” Aaker says.

    4. Be a giver

    Not surprisingly, the study found that doing things to help others will help add meaning to your life. (Happiness, on the other hand, was linked to being a “taker.”) By helping someone else, you’re ultimately doing something positive for both parties involved.

    5. Find a sense of purpose

    Fulfilling short-term desires may provide a bit of happiness, but in the long run, finding things that feed your soul will bring the most satisfaction. The study found that people who spent more time pursuing activities that reflected their sense of self rated their lives as more meaningful. “Our findings suggest that happiness is mainly about getting what one wants and needs, including from other people or even just by using money,” the study authors wrote. “In contrast, meaningfulness was linked to doing things that express and reflect the self and in particular to doing positive things for others.”

  • Could poor dental health signal a faltering mind?

    TOOTH loss and bleeding gums might be a sign of declining thinking skills among the middle-aged, a new study contends.

    “We were interested to see if people with poor dental health had relatively poorer cognitive function, which is a technical term for how well people do with memory and with managing words and numbers,” said study co-author Gary Slade, a professor in the department of dental ecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

    “What we found was that for every extra tooth that a person had lost or had removed, cognitive function went down a bit,” Slade said. “People who had none of their teeth had poorer cognitive function than people who did have teeth, and people with fewer teeth had poorer cognition than those with more.

    “The same was true when we looked at patients with severe gum disease,” he said.

    Slade and his colleagues reported their findings in the December issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association.

    To explore a potential connection between oral health and mental health, the authors analysed data gathered between 1996 and 1998 that included tests of memory and thinking skills, as well as tooth and gum examinations conducted among nearly 6,000 men and women. All the participants were between the ages of 45 and 64.

    Roughly 13 percent of the participants had no natural teeth, the researchers said. Among those with teeth, one-fifth had less than 20 remaining (a typical adult has 32, including wisdom teeth). More than 12 percent had serious bleeding issues and deep gum pockets.

    The researchers found that scores on memory and thinking tests — including word recall, word fluency and skill with numbers — were lower by every measure among those with no teeth when compared to those who had teeth.

    The researchers also found that having fewer teeth and serious gum bleeding were associated with worse scores on the tests, compared to those with more teeth and better gum health.

    Which condition developed first? The answer is murky, the researchers said.

    “It could be that poor dental health reflects a poor diet, and that the lack of so-called ‘brain foods’ rich in antioxidants might then contribute to cognitive decline,” Slade said. “It could also be that poor oral health might lead to the avoidance of certain foods, thereby contributing to cognitive decline.”

    “It could also be that dental disease, especially gum disease, gives rise to inflammation not only in the gums but throughout the circulatory system, ultimately affecting cognition,” he said.

    “If we want to focus on what might actually be contributing to cognitive decline and how to screen for that, then perhaps [poor] dental health should be thought of as yet another indication of both poor overall health and poor cognition,” Slade said. “It’s certainly a factor to be aware of.”

    Catherine Roe, an assistant professor of neurology at the Washington University School of Medicine, in St. Louis, said the findings were “fascinating.”

    “Oral health isn’t a widely talked about risk factor for cognition issues, and from this study we can only tell there’s an association between the two, not that it’s causal,” Roe said.

    “But the idea of a relationship between the two is certainly a very interesting possibility,” she said. “It could be that systemic inflammation might have an overall effect on both dental health and cognition, as they discuss in the paper.”

    “There might be a genetic link between the two diseases, with a certain gene promoting both oral health issues and cognition problems,” Roe said. “Or, of course, it could simply be that if you’ve got cognitive problems you just aren’t taking very good care of your teeth.”

    “The thing to do is to continue to follow these people, who are now in their 50s and 60s, which is actually very early to develop dementia or Alzheimer’s disease,” she said. “It would be good to see to what extent the people who … have teeth problems today but are cognitively normal right now go on to develop cognitive issues.”

  • Doctor canvasses six month maternity leave for nursing mothers

    THE federal government has been urged to ensure that public and private organisations extend maternity leave of nursing mothers from three to six months to allow them breast feed their babies exclusively

    Project Director, Colostrum International, Dr Bunmi Ogundimu, said this will be beneficial to babies and ensure their optimum growth.

    Ogundimu spoke during a symposium organised for health writers in Lagos, entitled Meeting International Standards in our Health care Delivery System.

    Mrs Ogundimu, who spoke on Breast milk: exclusive breast-feeding by 21st century woman, said colostrum, which is the milk produced at the end of pregnancy, was the perfect food for newborns.

    “Six months exclusive breast feeding would make a child survive childhood killer diseases such as diarrhoea and respiratory infections, the two primary causes of child mortality worldwide. Breast milk contains antibodies that protect infants from bacteria and viruses,” she added.

    Mrs Ogundimu said: “The infant mortality rate in Nigeria is high. It is 88.4 in every 1000 births.

    “Six months exclusive breast feeding can help bring this figure down.”

    Taking colostrum, she said, was nature’s way of ensuring the survival of a baby and ensures it grows into healthy adulthood. It is what builds the manpower of any country, she added.

    A bill, calling for the extension of maternity leave, she noted has been sent to the National Assembly.

    She called for the speedy passage of the bill.

    A physician, Dr Emanuel Enabulele, who chaired the occasion, said the importance of breast milk could not be over-emphasised in ensuring a healthy population.

    “Breast feeding promotes bonding between infant and mother. It is affordable and readily available at the right temperature, which helps to ensure that infants get adequate sustenance.

    “Studies have also shown that adults who were breast fed as babies often have lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol, as well as lower rates of obesity and type-2 diabetes, “he said.

  • Former Togo Prime Minister commends NAFDAC’s anti-counterfeiting fight

    Former Togo Prime Minister commends NAFDAC’s anti-counterfeiting fight

    FORMER Prime Minister of Togo, Mr, Edem Kodjo, has commended the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on its anti-counterfeiting drug success in the West African sub-region.

    Kodjo, who is the President of PAX Africana, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) on drug trafficking, said the agency has gained international recognition in its war against fake drugs.

    He said the agency’s effort will increase access to safe and quality medicine.

    Kodjo, an exSecretaryGeneral of Organisation of African Unity (OAU), said Dr Paul Orhii’s appointment as the chairman of the World Health Organisation’s newly established 193 Member State Mechanism (MSM) on suspicious, substandard, falsely-labelled, falsified and counterfeit medical products will help Africa in food and drug regulation.

    This, he added, attested to his hard work and dedication.

    He said: “We led a mission here in Nigeria on the problem of drug trafficking and we were told that there is an institution here in Nigeria doing a very good job. We heard a lot of beautiful things on what NAFDAC is doing and we are pleased to be with you today.”

    He said his NGO was prepared to work with NAFDAC on the hydra-headed problem of cross border drug trafficking, stressing that the agency should play the ‘big brother’ role by assisting and sharing with other African countries her success tips.

    Responding, Dr. Orhii thanked the Kodjo-led delegation for their support.

    He said NAFDAC’s success was made possible through the support of the federal government.

    Orhii assured the group that NAFDAC would not relent on its effort to totally eliminate counterfeit drugs from the African continent.

  • Coping with ultraviolet rays

    Coping with ultraviolet rays

    IN many parts of the world, whether at work or play, the sun dutifully plays its role as a giver of life and vital source of energy. But, wait a minute, there’s something in the sun that can be harmful, especially on the skin and eyes. And that is ultraviolet (UV) rays.

    UV rays cause chemical reactions, and ionises radiation: damaging many molecules in the biological systems.

    UV rays, an electromagnetic radiation found in sunlight, and emitted by electric arcs and specialised lights like mercury lamps is invisible to most humans. This is because UV has a wavelength in the range between 400 nanometers (nm) and 10 (nm), making it shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays.

    Ultraviolet rays are categorised based on their range from UV A, UV B, UV C, Near, Middle, Far, to Hydrogen, extreme, and Vacuum. On 13 April 2011 the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization classified all categories and wavelengths of ultraviolet radiation as a Group 1 carcinogen. This is the highest level designation for carcinogens and means “There is enough evidence to conclude that it can cause cancer in humans”.

    Harms

    Too much UVB radiation may lead to direct DNA damage, sunburn, and skin cancer. An overexposure to UVB radiation can cause sunburn and some forms of skin cancer. And prolonged exposure to solar UV radiation may result in acute and chronic health effects on the skin, eye, and immune system.

    Also, high intensities of UVB light are hazardous to the eyes, and exposure can cause welder’s flash (photokeratitis or arc eye) and may lead to cataracts, pterygium, and pinguecula formation. And if too much UV light is absorbed, eye structures such as the cornea, the lens and the retina can be damaged. Hence, protective eyewear is beneficial to those who are working with or those who might be exposed to ultraviolet radiation, such as welders. Also, mountaineers are exposed to higher levels of UV radiation because there is less atmospheric filtering and because of reflection from snow and ice.

    Benefits

    Despite the harms, one benefit of the ultraviolet rays is that it is responsible for the formation of vitamin D in humans, which plays a regulatory role in calcium metabolism, immunity, cell proliferation, insulin secretion, and blood pressure

    For light-skinned people, a daily 20 minute ultraviolet exposure to the sun is adequate to reach his or her vitamin D equilibrium. People with pigmented skins require about three to six times that much exposure.

    In medicine, UV rays are also used to treat skin conditions such as psoriasis and vitiligo.

    German physicist Johann Wilhelm Ritter discovered UV radiation in 1801 when he observed that silver salts darkened when exposed to sunlight.

  • ‘How to manage depression’

    ‘How to manage depression’

    Depression is silently killing millions. In this encounter with four counsellors at the University of Lagos, they speak on how this disease can be ameliorated, Godwin Simon writes

    AT a forum organised to mark this year’s World Mental Health Day on recently, the President, African Association of Psychiatry and Allied Professionals (AAPAP), Professor Oye Gureje, disclosed that Nigeria’s elderly persons are among the most depressed in the world and attributed this to the high level of poverty and unemployment in the country.

    The case of depression is not limited to Nigeria alone, it is a global phenomenon. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has earlier hinted that by 2015, depression will be the second highest killer disease in the world to be preceded only by heart diseases. It also said the rate of the disease is expected to be higher in the developing countries. Recognizing the burden of depression, WHO has recently launched awareness campaigns among policy makers to combat the problems.

    In an exclusive interview with four counsellors led by Mrs. Aderonke Asiwaju, the Head of Counselling Unit, University of Lagos, it was said that the prevalent socio-economic problems in the country as well as over-ambition of Nigerians are the major reasons for the increase in the rate of the disease.

    A Senior Counsellor, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Aregbesola, noted that it is a common mental disorder characterised by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feeling of guilt and low self-worth; disturbed sleep or appetite, feelings of tiredness and poor concentration. She said when any of these is evident in a person, then such a person could be said to be depressed.

    Elaborating the causes of this disease, Mr. Olayinka Omotola, said depression is often caused by anxiety and worry. “A person who wants to write an examination or embark on a project and is getting worried may become depressed.” He added that depression could also be caused by loss of loved ones, illness, unemployment and poor standard of living.

    He said perceived stigma could lead to depression of the bearer. “When I was growing up, I had pimples all over my face; I thought it would never be healed. Young ones in this situation may become worried over their perceived illness”.

    Mrs. Nimota Bakare, a Counselling Psychologist, noted that Nigeria has enough environmental factors that could lead to depression. She enumerated this to include poor standard of living, lack of balanced diet, lack of shelter and “fetish” mindset owing to different cultural background of Nigerians.

    In her words, “If you go out there, you will discover that the standard of living is poor, hardly will you see a person in Nigeria today that eats well.

    “There was the case of a man who lives in a room with his wife and five children. How will these people be mentally stable? Even our cultural mentality is not helping matters. Nigerians are so fetish. A man in search of employment may start thinking that his problem was caused by a person he has offended a long time ago. All these environmental factors, to a large extent, aid depression.”

    Speaking on the symptoms of depression, Mrs. Aregbesola said “We have many symptoms of depression. They include loss of appetite, inability to concentrate on one’s business and inability to socialize with people like before.” She explains further that depressed people hardly have enough sleeping time while some turn to drug abuse and alcoholism. She noted that the peak of depression is consideration of suicide.

    Counselling psychologist, Mrs. Bakare, added that if depression is not quickly addressed, it may lead to high blood pressure and other heart-related diseases. “The prolonged thoughts and unstable mood affect the blood pressure and subsequently affects the heart”, she said.

    She explained that there are levels of depression some may just be between 5-10 minutes and they are gone. But there is other one that is called ‘clinical depression’ which may span for a long time. It is this type of depression that perpetually obstructs one’s daily activities. Before the affected person realises, it will lead to high blood pressure because oxygen is not well utilised in the blood stream. This, according to her, makes it safe to say that depression and high blood pressure are “inseparable.”

    Proffering solution to this disease, Mrs. Asiwaju, explains that there are two approaches to this. “The first solution is through psychotherapy. This involves counselling the depressed ones, thereby helping them to go over their predicaments”, she said. She added that the second approach is medical attention.

    The counsellor, who raised alarm on the spate of depression among youths, encouraged them to “take things easy” as most of them venture into things that are beyond their capacity. “When I was younger, depression was not as much as this, few people then knew the meaning of depression, but the rate of this disease is alarming now! This I believe is due to over-anxiety among people.”

    She stressed that the government has a role to play in reducing this disease. “The government should endeavour to assist the elderly ones in terms of welfare, while employment opportunities should be created for the youth. The less-privileged ones should also be catered for as these will do a lot in reducing depression in our country.” she said.

    All the counsellors were unanimous in advising Nigerians to be moderate in pursuing goals. They noted that one of the major causes of depression in Nigeria is over-ambition. They advised that Nigerians should visit hospitals regularly for medical checkup and often go to counsellors to share their problems and get counselled as “problem shared is problem solved”. They opined that with this, the rate of depression in Nigeria would be drastically reduced and life expectancy rate would increase.

  • ‘We don’t have special hospitals for the heart’

    ‘We don’t have special hospitals for the heart’

    Dr. Femi Thomas, a Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Head of Department of Surgery at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and former Ekiti State Commissioner of Health, in this interview with Joe Agbro Jr., says government ought to do more for cardiac patients and advocates for cardiac centres nationwide

    FROM your practice, would you say more Nigerians are suffering from heart failure?

    Well, heart failure occurs when a disease of the heart persists and it is not treated. The problem is a lot of things that we do in the country are predisposing people to heart failure. For example, you will see a situation where people consume a lot of alcohol, they come up with alcoholic heart diseases and they end up with heart failure. For children, you see a situation where people have inborn (congenital) heart diseases that ordinarily should be corrected. If they are not corrected, they also end up with heart failure. So, heart failure is like end-point of these problems.

    Among the heart diseases, which is most prevalent in the country?

    I think the commonest here is hypertension. I remember we carried out a study when I was commissioner for health in Ekiti State a few years ago and we got to know that up to 16% of people above 40 years old are hypertensive. Many of them come down with what we call coronary heart disease.

    How would sum the challenges of the practice of cardiology?

    We are not supposed to be where we are. You see, these things are simple. Luckily, I have been commissioner for health before, so I know that what is on ground is enough to meet our needs. As turbulent as our stay was in Ekiti then when I was under Engr. Segun Oni, we were still able to start a teaching hospital; we were still able to start a college of medicine. We were able to rehabilitate 185 primary health care centres. We were able to rehabilitate five general hospitals. As at that time, we had the best eye centre in the southwest. All within three years. There are four elements of service when it comes to healthcare delivery. You talk of infrastructure, equipment and materials, right personnel that should be well motivated. Then, the final thing which is the most important thing that won’t even cost the government so much is the one they are neglecting healthcare financing that is insurance. Already government has started, but as at today, coverage is just limited to about four to five percent of the population whereas with adequate policy on ground, the whole country can be covered. Ghana, I understand, covers 60 percent. Can you imagine? There are many ways of boosting these things without costing government additional money. Our tax system can be done in such a way that just as you are paying your tax, your health insurance goes with it. Your tax clearance card should be able to take you into any hospital in the country. The same way that a governor enters the hospital should be the same way that a cleaner will enter the hospital. And then you have the same opportunity to have the same type of care.

    Do you know that we sent a bill to the National Assembly to establish eight cardiac centres in the country? This bill has been on now for several months now. As I am talking with you, the bill has not reached second stage. It has not even passed first stage.

    When you say ‘we sent a bill’ what do you mean?

    I initiated it (the bill) with some other people. If I have bags of money to move around and mobilise people, maybe it is possible the bill would have (been) passed. But, I can’t do all that. I don’t have the capacity. See what is happening. We have orthopaedic hospitals all around. You can see National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Enugu, and Dala. We have psychiatric hospitals, Aro and all. We have national eye care hospital; we have national ear care hospital which has centres all over the country. But, still, we don’t have anything for the heart. The first heart operation was done in UCH, Ibadan as far back as 1974. And it is not being sustained. Enugu has been doing heart surgery since 1974. As at today, the best cardiac centre in West Africa is still in Ghana. And that is where they started in 1992. So, why is that we cannot have our own? Government can start all these things and then privatise later. Look, in this hospital for example, we’ve sent people for training. I was in India for six months in 2011 and 2012. I went with nurses for theatre, nurses for intensive care unit (ICU). I went with anaesthetist. We all did our training, now, we’re back. Since then, nothing to work with. We needed just about 100 million naira to buy the basic things to even start, we cannot. Now, we want to collaborate with an hospital in Chennai. We signed an MOU with them so that we can start open heart surgery in this place now. So, it’s like going cap in hand, isn’t it?

    It’s in the constitution that government has a responsibility to guarantee our health. At this stage, we should also be talking about integrated health. How do you fight kwashiorkor if there is no food? It is not a matter for drugs. How do fight diarrhoea if there is no water? It is a matter of treating the person and the person goes back home. So, agriculture, water resources, education have roles to play in this matter.

    How expensive is the treatment of heart diseases?

    Treatment is expensive and also technically tasking. You need equipment for various diagnostics purposes. You need equipment for therapeutic purposes. And these equipments are not by any means cheap… In the past, people were going abroad for pacemaker insertions. We’ve been doing that since 1999. Now if you have your money, we can do it. But, how easy is it for people to afford this. Our health insurance does not cover it. Anywhere in the world, the treatment of heart disease is expensive. The way people get these things done is through social solidarity, health insurance.

  • UNFPA report: Why girls become mothers

    UNFPA report: Why girls become mothers

    •Teenage pregnancy in developing countries hits 20,000 daily

    THIS year’s State of World Population released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has identified poverty, limited or no access to sexual and reproductive health and lack of education, among others, as the major reasons young girls become pregnant.

    According to the report, no fewer than 20,000 girls below age 18 give birth daily in developing countries. Nine in 10 of these births occur within marriage or a union, it added.

    It said girls who are 15 years and below account for two million of the yearly total of 7.3 million new adolescent mothers.

    The report, entitled Motherhood in Childhood: Facing the challenge of adolescent pregnancy, revealed that motherhood in childhood is a huge global problem, especially in developing countries.

    “Of these 7.3 million births, 2 million are to girls 14 or younger, who suffer the gravest long-term health and social consequences from pregnancy, including high rates of maternal death and obstetric fistula.

    It said the number of births to girls under 15 could rise to three million a year in 2030, if current trends continue.

    UNFPA said adolescent pregnancy has serious impacts on girls’ education, health and long-term employment opportunities.

    The report said impoverished, poorly educated and rural girls are more likely to become pregnant than their wealthier, more urban, and more educated counterparts.

    Girls from ethnic minorities or marginalised groups, and those who have limited or no access to sexual and reproductive health are also at greater risk.

    Girls 14 and younger are at double the risk of maternal death and obstetric fistula.

    “Motherhood in childhood” offers a new perspective on adolescent pregnancy, looking not only at the girls’ behaviour as a cause of early pregnancy, but also at the actions of their families, communities and governments.

    UNFPA Executive Director, Prof Babatunde Osotimehin, said: “Too often, society blames only the girl for getting pregnant but the reality is that adolescent pregnancy is most often not the result of a deliberate choice, rather the absence of choices, and of circumstances beyond a girl’s control. It is a consequence of little or no access to school, employment, quality information and health care.”

    He said early pregnancy takes its toll on a girl’s health, education and rights, adding that it also prevents her from realising her potential and adversely impacts the baby.

    He said children having children severely impacts communities and nations’ economies.

    Chairman, Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON), Lagos Sector, Prof Oluwarotimi Akinola, said teenage pregnancy is a challenge. It is a serious adolescent and reproductive health right issue, he added.

    He said the fertility rate of the country is 5.7, which is quite high, may be the reason why some teenagers get pregnant.

    Akinola recommended advocacy as an important tool to achieving a reduction in underage pregnancy, stressing that it is part of family planning issues.

    A don at the Department of Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), Prof Adetokunbo Fabamwo, said political will is necessary to reduce teenage pregnancy.